RICHARDS George Warren Lieut

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Surname: RICHARDS;

Forename(s): George Warren;

Initials: GW;

Rank: Lieut;

Previous Regiment: R Welsh Fus;

MGC Branch: Motors;

MGC Unit: 11 LAM Bty;

Other MGC Unit Served (1): 11 LAM Bty;

Other MGC Unit Served (2): 7 ACC;

Awarded: MC, MID;

Other Data: See Letter Boy David June 1977 (90) about 2 LCP and 11 LAM Bty
b 4/7/1898 MGC 23/2/1918-3/8/1920 to Wareham for duty with Armoured Car Coys (Tank Corps)
Apr 1921: 7 ACC, Mhow, India
OCA Member: Parade House, The Parade, Monmouth, Gwent

Who's Who 1968: CB 1945, CBE 1944, DSO 1942, bar 1943, MC 1918, D.L.. B 4/7/1898 son of John Richards, Llewynderw Hall, Welsgpool. M 1930, Gwen Laird. Educ: Oswestry, Sandhurst. Commsn RWF 1916, att MGC 1917 Tank Corps 1920. Retired from Army 1949, DL Monmouthshire. Trewarren, Llandewi Rhydderch, Abergavenny.
Boy David 90, June 1977
King's College London
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives

Survey of the Papers of Senior UK Defence Personnel, 1900-1975
Name
RICHARDS, George Warren (1898-1978), Major General

Service biography
Joined Royal Welch Fusiliers 1916; World War I 1916-1918; Egyptian Expeditionary Force 1916-1918; attached to Machine Gun Corps 1918; Iraq 1919-1920; Waziristan, North West Frontier, India 1921-1924; transferred to Royal Tank Corps 1923; North West Frontier, India 1936-1937; Bde Maj, Southern Command 1937-1939; General Staff Officer Grade 2 1939; World War II 1939-1945; Commander, 4 Armoured Bde 1942; Commander, 23 Armoured Bde 1942-1943; Maj Gen, Royal Armoured Corps Headquarters, 21 Army Group 1944-1945; Commander, North Midland District 1947; Commander, 49 (West Riding and Midlands) Armoured Div, Territorial Army 1947-1949; retired 1949

Papers
LIDDELL HART CENTRE FOR MILITARY ARCHIVES: The papers of Capt Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart include correspondence with Richards 1947-1948 (ref: LH 1/597 and 2R/59/1-9) IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM, LONDON: Papers relating to his career with the Royal Armoured Corps 1916-1949; including material relating to his service on the staff of FM Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount of Montgomery and Hindehead 1942-1945; the papers of FM Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein and Hindhead include a note by Richards, Jan 1945, on Montgomery's memorandum on British armour, Jul 1944 (five pages, ref: BLM 129/3)

Taped Interview in IWM collections (866):
British officer served with 2 Light Car Patrol, Motor Machine Gun Corps in Egypt, 1917-1918; served with Light Armoured Motor Bde in Palestine and Syria, 1918-1919; served with 4th Bn Tank Corps in GB, 1920; served with 7th Armoured Car Coy, Royal Tank Corps in India, 1921-1924; served with 4th Bn Royal Tank Corps in GB, 1924-1926; served with 5th Armoured Car Coy in Shanghai, China, 1927-1929; served with 4th Bn Royal Tank Corps in GB, 1929-1931; attended Staff College at Camberley, GB, 1934; served as staff officer with 1st Tank Bde in GB, 1936-1939; served as instructor with Senior Officers School, Sheerness and Tactical School, Bulford in GB, 1939-1940; served as tank adviser to General Wavell and commanding officer of 4th Armoured Bde in North Africa, 1941-1943; served as tank adviser to General Montgomery in North Africa and to 21st Army Group in North West Europe, 1943-1945
.Content descriptionREEL 1 Recollections of operations as officer with 2 Light Car Patrol, Motor Machine Gun Corps in Egypt, 1917-1918: background to joining unit from Royal Welsh Fusiliers in Egypt, 1/1917; reasons for transfer to unit; role of unit in Western Desert; mechanical problems in desert terrain; composition of car crews; logistical organisation of patrols; character of Model T Ford patrol cars and Rolls Royce Armoured Cars; repair facilities; role of Duke of Westminster in development of unit. REEL 2 Continues: description of typical patrol; use of Arab guides; mechanical problems encountered; modifications to vehicles; desert navigation and communications; story of rescue of crew of ship Tara from Turkish captivity in Bir Hakeim, 1916. Recollections of operations as officer with Light Armoured Motor Bde in Palestine and Syria, 1918-1919: reconnaissance duties in Palestine; problems in removal of windscreens; method of advancing; character of advance towards Aleppo, 1918. REEL 3 Continues: capture of Aleppo; question of pace between mechanised units and cavalry; cavalry's attitude towards mechanised units; civil defence duties in Syria, 1919. Period as officer with 4th Bn Tank Corps at Wareham in GB, 1920: posting to unit at Wareham; character of unit and morale; training with Mark V tanks; question of proposed role of tank; driving course with Rolls Royce Armoured Cars. Period as officer with 7th Armoured Car Coy, Tanks Corps in India, 1921-1924: posting to Peshawar; mechanical problems encountered; patrol duties. Aspects of period as officer with 4th Bn Royal Tank Corps in GB, 1924-1927: training at Bovington and Catterick Camps; quality of corps officers. REEL 4 Continues: training in infantry support role; advantages of Vicker Mark 1 Medium Tank; memories of influence of J F C Fuller on unit training; General Lindsay's tactical concepts. Period as officer with 5th Armoured Car Coy, Royal Tank Corps in Shanghai, China, 1927-1929: posting to unit; voyage from GB to Shanghai; patrol duties in International Settlement; method of electrifying armoured cars; areas patrolled and accommodation. Aspects of period as officer with 4th Bn Royal Tank Corps in GB, 1929- 1931: opinion of Basil Liddell-Hart. REEL 5 Continues: opinion of Vickers Medium Tanks and Martel tank; problems of seasickness in tanks; daily routine at Catterick Camp; training programme and mechanical ability of troops; organisation of unit and exercises; Percy Hobart's Tactical Exercises Without Troops; Basil Liddell-Hart's visits to unit; memories of Colonel Percy Hobart; infantry support role; opinion of J F C Fuller; character of tank communications; standard of recruits; gunnery training; duties as adjutant. REEL 6 Continues: Aspects of period as staff officer with 1st Tank Bde in GB, 1936-1939: duties as staff captain during Salisbury Plain exercise; attitude of staff officers to tanks; memories of attending Staff College at Camberley, 1934 including quality of instructors; role as brigade- major from 1936; effect on morale of vehicle shortages; memories of Brigadier Percy Hobart, c1937; question of cavalry's attitude towards mechanisation, 1936-1937. REEL 7 Continues: exercises with mechanised Territorial Army units; reaction to formation of Royal Armoured Corps, 1939. Period as instructor with Senior Officers School, Sheerness and Tactical School, Bulford in GB, 1939-1940: instructional duties at Senior Officers School, Sheerness; establishment of Tactical School at Bulford; character of syllabus at Tactical School. Aspects of operations as tank adviser to General Wavell and as commanding officer with 4th Armoured Bde in North Africa, 1941-1943: composition of brigade; opinion of 2 Pounder Anti-tank gun; question of political motive for Operation Battleaxe, 1941; role as tank adviser to General Archibald Wavell; opinion of Wavell. Aspects of period as tank adviser to General Montgomery and 21st Army Group in North Africa and North West Europe, 1943-1945: Montgomery's method of working. REEL 8 Continues: comparison between Wavell's and Montgomery's use of tanks; duties as Montgomery's tank adviser; deficiencies of 2 Pounder guns; reasons for lack of spare parts for tanks, 1940-1942; role as tank adviser to 21st Army Group; opinion of General George Patton; Montgomery's style of command; role commanding 4th Armoured Bde during first Battle of El Alamein and advance into Tunisia.
.Associated people and organisations
British Army, Armoured Bde 4
British Army, Army Group 21
British Army, Camp, Bovington
British Army, Camp, Catterick
British Army, Light Armoured Motor Bde
British Army, Motor Machine Gun Corps, Light Car Patrol 2
British Army, Royal Tank Corps, 4th Battalion
British Army, Senior Officers School, Sheerness
British Army, Staff College, Camberley
British Army, Tactical School, Bulford
British Army, Tank Bde 1
British Army, Tank Corps, 4th Battalion
British Army, Tank Corps, Armoured Car Coy 5
British Army, Tank Corps, Armoured Car Coy 7
Fuller, John Frederick Charles
Hobart, Percy Cleghorn Stanley
Liddell Hart, Basil Henry
Lindsay, G M
Merchant Navy, TARA (SS)
Montgomery, Bernard Law
Patton, George S
Richards, George Warren
Wavell, Archibald Percival
Associated places
CN & Shanghai
CN & Shanghai
CN
EG & El Alamein
EG
GB, England & Salisbury Plain, Wilts
GB, England & Wareham, Dorset
GB, England
GB, Wales
IN & Peshawar
LY & Bir Hakeim
LY
PI
SY & Aleppo;

Other Notes: MC: LG 12/12/1919 (for Egypt & Palestine, to date 3/6/1919)
MID: LG 12/1/1920 EGYPT
GS Medal, clasp "Kurdistan"
IGS Medal "Waz 21-24" (7ACC - Tank Corps);

END OF RECORD.

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