Kenneth Cooper (British Army officer)

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Kenneth Cooper
Birth nameKenneth Christie Cooper
Born18 October 1905
Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales
Died4 September 1981 (aged 75)
Salisbury, Wiltshire, England
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service1924–1959
RankMajor-General
Service number27871
UnitRoyal Corps of Signals
Commands held1st Fife and Forfar Yeomanry
7th Armoured Brigade
7th Armoured Division
Battles/warsWorld War II
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Service Order
Officer of the Order of the British Empire

Major-General Kenneth Christie Cooper CB, DSO, OBE (18 October 1905 – 4 September 1981) was a senior British Army officer who commanded 7th Armoured Division.[1]

Military career[]

Educated at Berkhamsted School, Cooper was commissioned into the 53rd (Welsh) Divisional Signals Regiment in 1924[2] and then transferred to the Royal Tank Corps in 1927.[3]

He served in World War II as Commanding Officer of the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry from October 1941, as a General Staff Officer with IX Corps in North Africa from 1942 and as a Brigadier on the General Staff at Allied Force Headquarters from 1943.[4] His last war-time role was as Commander of 7th Armoured Brigade in Italy from 1945.[4]

He was appointed Brigadier, Royal Armoured Corps at Northern Command in 1947, Chief of Staff at West Africa Command in 1948 and Assistant commandant of the Staff College, Camberley in 1952.[4] He went on to be General Officer Commanding 7th Armoured Division in 1953 and Chief of Staff Allied Forces Northern Europe in 1956 before retiring in 1959.[4]

He lived at West End House in Donhead St Andrew in Wiltshire.[5]

Family[]

He married Barbara Mary Harding‑Newman;[6] they had one son, Major General Sir Simon Cooper.[5]

References[]

  1. ^ "Obituary: Major-General K. C. Cooper". The Times. 18 September 1981. p. 16.
  2. ^ "No. 32901". The London Gazette. 25 January 1924. p. 775.
  3. ^ "No. 33308". The London Gazette. 2 September 1927. p. 5676.
  4. ^ a b c d Generals.dk
  5. ^ a b The Peerage.com
  6. ^ Gooch of London Archived 26 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine

External links[]

Military offices
Preceded by GOC 7th Armoured Division
1953–1956
Succeeded by
Retrieved from ""