William Wyndham Green
Sir William Green | |
---|---|
Born | 15 May 1887 |
Died | 12 November 1979 (aged 92) New Romney |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | British Army |
Years of service | 1907–1946 |
Rank | Lieutenant General |
Unit | Royal Artillery |
Commands held | Anti-Aircraft Command |
Battles/wars | World War I World War II |
Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companion of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order Military Cross and bar |
Lieutenant General Sir William Wyndham Green KBE KBE CB DSO MC DL (15 May 1887 – 12 November 1979) was General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Anti-Aircraft Command.
Military career[]
Educated at Malvern College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Green was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1907.[1][2]
He served in World War I latterly as a brigade major in France.[1] He was awarded the Military Cross for correcting gunfire from the top of a haystack 200 yards from the enemy front line in December 1914,[3] and a bar to the Military Cross for extinguishing a burning gun-pit under heavy fire in April 1917[4] and the Distinguished Service Order at Ploegsteert in April the following year.[5][6]
After attending the Staff College, Camberley, from 1919 to 1920, in 1926 he became an instructor in Gunnery at the School of Artillery.[1] In 1929 he went to India and served on the North West Frontier, before returning to the School of Artillery in 1937 as Chief Instructor for Equipment.[1] In 1938 he was appointed Commandant at the Royal Military College of Science.[1][6]
He served in World War II initially as Brigadier Royal Artillery at Northern Command and then, from March 1941 to October 1941, as Second in Command City and Garrison of Gibraltar.[1] In 1942 he became Commander of 3rd Anti-Aircraft Division and in 1943 he was made Commander of 5th and 6th Anti-Aircraft Groups.[1][7]
After the War he was appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief at Anti-Aircraft Command; he retired in 1946.[1][7] He was also a Colonel Commandant of the Royal Artillery from 1947 to 1952.[1]
The family home was at Little Gables in New Romney in Kent.[8] He was a Deputy Lieutenant for the county in 1949.[6]
Family[]
In January 1916 he married Madge Alexandra Bellairs and had one daughter, then in 1924 he married Aline Hope Primrose Cobbold and they went on to have one son and a daughter.[9]
Bibliography[]
- Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnesley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 1844150496.
References[]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Sir William Wyndham Green Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
- ^ Smart, p. 129
- ^ "No. 29438". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 September 1916. p. 578.
- ^ "No. 30287". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 September 1917. p. 9559.
- ^ "No. 30901". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 September 1918. p. 10866.
- ^ a b c Smart, p. 130
- ^ a b Robert Palmer, A Concise History of Anti-Aircraft Command (History and Personnel) at British Military History.
- ^ "No. 38789". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 December 1949. p. 6036.
- ^ The Cobbold Family History Trust
External links[]
- 1887 births
- 1979 deaths
- British Army generals of World War II
- British Army personnel of World War I
- Anti-Aircraft Command officers
- Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
- Companions of the Order of the Bath
- Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
- Recipients of the Military Cross
- Royal Artillery officers
- Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich
- Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley
- Deputy Lieutenants of Kent
- People educated at Malvern College