War Office: General Miles Christopher Dempsey: Papers

WO 285

1944-1969

The papers in this series largely comprise notes, intelligence summaries, correspondence and a personal diary for General Miles Christopher Dempsey's period in command of 2nd Army from the invasion of Normandy until the final victory in Europe.

Public Record(s)

English

29 file(s)

Subject to 30 year closure

Topics

Army

Europe and Russia

Conflict

Diaries

Armed Forces (General Administration)

Operations, battles and campaigns

Personal and family papers

Miles Christopher Dempsey was born in 1896. He was commissioned into the Royal Berkshire Regiment in February 1915 and saw active service on the Western Front. During the inter-war years he served in operations in Iraq 1919-1920 and after a period at Staff College he became an instructor both at Sandhurst and at the South African Military College. In the second World War he was successively in command of the 1st Battalion of his regiment; 13th Infantry Brigade as part of the BEF (November 1939-1940); 13th Corps during the campaigns for Sicily and Italy (1942-1943); 2nd Army in the invasion of Normandy and NW Europe (1944-1945) and the 14th Army in the reoccupation of Singapore and Malaya (1945). He was in C-in-C Allied Land Forces SE Asia from 1945 to 1946.

On his promotion to General in 1946 he was posted as C-in-C Middle East, until he retired in 1947. He returned to active service in 1950 to become C-in-C (designate) UK Land Forces until he retired again in 1952. General Dempsey died in 1969.