Alexander Maurice Cameron
Sir Alexander Cameron | |
|---|---|
| Born | 30 May 1898 |
| Died | 25 December 1986 (aged 88) |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/ | British Army |
| Years of service | 1916–1954 |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Unit | Royal Engineers |
| Commands held | East Africa Command |
| Battles/wars | First World War Second World War Mau Mau Uprising |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companion of the Order of the Bath Military Cross |
Lieutenant General Sir Alexander Maurice Cameron KBE CB MC (30 May 1898 – 25 December 1986) was a senior British Army officer who became General Officer Commanding (GOC) East Africa Command.
Military career[]
Cameron was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1916.[1] He served in World War I in France and Belgium[1] taking part in the Battle of Passchendaele for which he received the Military Cross.[2]
After the War he attended the Staff College, Camberley from 1928 to 1929, alongside fellow students such as John Harding, Gerald Templer, Richard McCreery, Gordon MacMillan, Gerard Bucknall and Alexander Galloway,[3] Cameron was deployed to South Persia and then took part in operations in Kurdistan.[1] He became a brigade major in India in 1934 and then a General Staff Officer in the Anti-Aircraft Corps in 1936.[1]
He served in World War II initially as a General Staff Officer with Anti-Aircraft Command and then as Commander of the Anti-Aircraft Brigade from 1942.[1] He was on the staff of Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force from 1944 to 1945.[1] At this time he started constructing an Allied version of the V-2 rocket.[2]
After the War he became Commander of the Special Project Operations Group which took control of the German guided missile installations.[1] He then became Deputy Quartermaster General for the Royal Engineers in 1945 and Major-General in charge of Administration for Middle East Land Forces in Egypt in 1948.[1]
He was appointed General Officer Commanding East Africa Command in 1951 and, following the Mau Mau Uprising in 1952, was replaced by General Sir George Erskine, becoming Erskine's Second in Command in 1953; he retired in 1954.[1]
He was Director of Civil Defence for South East Region in the UK from 1955 to 1960.[1]
References[]
Bibliography[]
- Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnesley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 1844150496.
External links[]
- 1898 births
- 1986 deaths
- Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
- Companions of the Order of the Bath
- Recipients of the Military Cross
- Royal Engineers officers
- Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich
- British Army personnel of World War I
- British Army generals of World War II
- Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley