Philip Balfour

Lieutenant General Sir Philip Maxwell Balfour, KBE, CB, MC & Bar (10 March 1898 – 4 February 1977) was a senior British Army officer who achieved high office in the 1950s.

Sir Philip Balfour
Born(1898-03-10)10 March 1898
Died4 February 1977(1977-02-04) (aged 78)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Years of service1915–1953
RankLieutenant General
Service number11645
UnitRoyal Artillery
Commands heldNorthern Command (1949–53)
2nd Division (1947–49)
53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division (1946–47)
Battles/warsFirst World War
Second World War
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Companion of the Order of the Bath
Military Cross & Bar

Military career

Philip Balfour was born on 10 March 1898 and educated at Wellington College, Berkshire, and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Royal Artillery on 28 July 1915, alongside Cameron Nicholson and John Kennedy of the Royal Garrison Artillery.[1][2] He served in the First World War, being deployed to France and Belgium.[2] He attended the Staff College, Camberley from 1929 to 1930.[3]

Balfour also served in the Second World War, initially as a GSO2 before being made Commander, Royal Artillery of the 55th (West Lancashire) Infantry Division. From 1944 he was serving as Brigadier General Staff of John Crocker's I Corps throughout the North West Europe campaign, and was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for "gallant and distinguished services in Normandy" as a temporary brigadier.[4]

After the war Balfour joined the Control Commission in Germany in 1945 and then became Director of Civil Affairs for the Military Government, British Army of the Rhine in 1946.[2] He was appointed General Officer Commanding (GOC) 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division later in 1946 and then GOC 2nd Division in 1947.[2] Finally he became GOC-in-Chief Northern Command in 1949; in that role he was critical of the standard of shooting in the British Army.[5] He retired in 1953.[2]

References
  1. "No. 29242". The London Gazette. 27 July 1915. p. 7335.
  2. "Balfour, Philip". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  3. "No. 33459". The London Gazette. 22 January 1929. p. 543.
  4. "No. 36720". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 September 1944. p. 4473.
  5. Shooting Standard Hansard, 3 February 1953
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.