Francis Mitchell (British Army officer)

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Francis Mitchell
Gen FN Mitchell.jpg
Born1904
Died15 September 1954
Germany
AllegianceUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branchFlag of the British Army.svg British Army
Years of service1924-1954
RankMajor-General
Commands held1st Royal Gloucestershire Hussars
26th Armoured Brigade
22nd Armoured Brigade
6th Armoured Division
Battles/warsWorld War II
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Distinguished Service Order
RelationsAdmiral Francis Mitchell
Rev. Patrick Mitchell KCVO

Major-General Francis Neville Mitchell CB CBE DSO (1904–1954) was a British Army officer who commanded 6th Armoured Division.

Military career[]

Born the eldest son of Admiral Francis Mitchell and a cousin of Patrick Mitchell KCVO,[1] Mitchell graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and was commissioned into the 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars in 1924.[2]

He served in World War II as an Instructor at the Staff College, Camberley from 1940, as a General Staff Officer with 9th Armoured Division from 1941 and as Commanding Officer of 1st Royal Gloucestershire Hussars from 1942.[3] He was appointed Commander of 26th Armoured Brigade in Italy in 1944, and Assistant Deputy Adjutant-General at Allied Forces Headquarters in 1945.[3] At the end of the War he was appointed CBE.[4]

He went on to be Commander of 22nd Armoured Brigade in 1947, Brigadier Royal Armoured Corps for the British Army of the Rhine in 1949 and Chief of Staff for I (British) Corps in Germany in 1951.[3] His last appointment was as General Officer Commanding 6th Armoured Division in 1953 before his sudden death in a horse riding accident in Germany in 1954.[3]

Family[]

In 1935 he married Ann Christian Livingstone-Learmouth.[5] Their daughter Mona served as Private Secretary to Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy, from 1974 until 1991, and was appointed a DCVO on retirement.[6] Francis Mitchell's grandfather, Col. Herbert Leonard Mitchell, married Mary Arabella Susan Reynolds, the niece of Major-General and the granddaughter of General . His brother Lieut-Cmdr David Reynolds Mitchell was killed one week before the end of WWII.[1] He is the cousin of Maj. Douglas Reynolds VC.[7]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Seaver, J. Montgomery. "Mitchell Family Records". American Historical-Genealogical Society. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  2. ^ "No. 32969". The London Gazette. 29 August 1924. p. 6498.
  3. ^ a b c d "Mitchell, Francis Neville". Generals.dk. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  4. ^ "Recommendation for Award for Mitchell, Francis Neville Rank: Lieutenant Colonel". National Archives. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  5. ^ "Mitchell, Dame Mona (Ann)". Headlam. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  6. ^ "Mitchell, Dame Mona (Ann)", Who Was Who (online ed., Oxford University Press, December 2007). Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  7. ^ England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975

External links[]

Military offices
Preceded by GOC 6th Armoured Division
1953−1955 		Succeeded by
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