Horace Birks

Major General Horace Leslie Birks CB DSO (7 May 1897 – 25 March 1985) was a senior officer of the British Army who saw active service during both the First World War and the Second World War, where he commanded the 10th Armoured Division.

Horace Birks
Born	7 May 1897 Stoke Newington, London, England
Died	25 March 1985 (aged 87) New Forest, Hampshire, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1915–1946
Rank	Major General
Service number	22474
Unit	Machine Gun Corps Worcestershire Regiment Royal Tank Corps
Commands held	126th Infantry Brigade 11th Armoured Brigade 10th Armoured Division
Battles/wars	First World War Second World War
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order

Military career

Educated at University College School,[1] Birks volunteered for military service in the British Army, joining the London Rifle Brigade in 1915 during the First World War and, after serving on the Western Front, was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Machine Gun Corps Heavy Branch in 1917 and fought at the Battle of Cambrai later that year.[2]

He remained in the army after the war and was appointed an instructor at the Royal Tank Corps Schools in 1919 and, after service in India and then as a General Staff Officer (GSO) back in the United Kingdom, he became an instructor at the Staff College, Quetta in 1937.[2]

He served in the Second World War as second-in-command (2IC) of 4th Armoured Brigade in Egypt from 1940, then took command of the 126th Infantry Brigade from September 1941. The brigade was part of the 42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division and converted to an armoured role as the 11th Tank Brigade in 1942 and remained under Birks' command. It did not see active service as a unit, and spent the war in the United Kingdom, as part of the 42nd Armoured Division, before disbandment in late 1943. He went on to be General Officer Commanding (GOC) 10th Armoured Division in North Africa in January 1943 and Commander of the Royal Armoured Corps for the Allied Central Mediterranean Force in Italy in 1944 before retiring in 1946.[2]

References

1. "List of Old Gowers". Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
2. Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives

External links

• British Army Officers 1939−1945
• Generals of World War II
• Imperial War Museum Interview
• BBC Interview for The Great War Interviews recorded in 1964 and broadcast in 2014