Brian Kimmins
Lieutenant General Sir Brian Charles Hannam Kimmins, KBE, CB, DL (30 July 1899 – 15 November 1979) was a British military commander who served as the General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland District.
Sir Brian Kimmins | |
|---|---|
| Born | 30 July 1899[1] Hendon, Middlesex, England |
| Died | 15 November 1979 (aged 80) Taunton, Somerset, England |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/ | British Army |
| Years of service | 1917–1958 |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Service number | 1294 |
| Unit | Royal Field Artillery Royal Artillery |
| Commands held | Northern Ireland District (1955–58) 44th (Home Counties) Division (1950–52) |
| Battles/wars | First World War Second World War |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companion of the Order of the Bath Mentioned in Despatches Legion of Honour (France) Croix de Guerre (France) |
| Relations | Charles William Kimmins (father) Grace Kimmins (mother) Anthony Kimmins (brother) |
Military career
Kimmins was born in Hendon, Middlesex (now North London), the son of psychologist Charles William Kimmins and Dame Grace Kimmins. He was the older brother of Anthony Kimmins.[2]
After graduating from the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich on 28 September 1917,[3] Kimmins was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Royal Field Artillery of the British Army, during the latter phases of the First World War.[4]
After the war he served in India and Egypt and became aide-de-camp to the High Commissioner for Egypt and the Sudan in 1928.[4] He became adjutant at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, in 1930 and brigade major for the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division's 147th Infantry Brigade in 1935.[4] He then attended the Staff College, Camberley from 1938 to 1939.[4]
Kimmins served in the Second World War, initially as a General Staff Officer with the British Expeditionary Force in France before becoming an instructor at the Staff College in 1940.[4] He was appointed Deputy Director of Military Training at the War Office in 1941 and became a Brigadier on the General Staff of Southern Command in 1942.[4] He became Commander Royal Artillery for the Guards Armoured Division in 1943 and Director of Plans for South East Asia Command in 1944.[4] He was finally Assistant Chief of Staff at the Headquarters of the Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia in 1945.[4] On 24 February 1945, towards the end of the war, he was promoted to the rank of major general.[5]
After the Second World War Kimmins became Chief of Staff at Headquarters Combined Operations in 1946 and Director of Quartering at the War Office in 1947.[4] He was appointed General Officer Commanding Home Counties District and GOC 44th (Home Counties) Infantry Division in 1950 and Director of the Territorial Army and Cadets in 1952.[4] His last appointment was as General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland District in 1955.[4]
Kimmins retired in 1958.[4] He died at the Somerset Nuffield Hospital in Taunton on 15 November 1979, leaving a wife and three children.[6]
Bibliography
- At Your Service – a belated autobiography of Lieutenant General Sir Brian Kimmins KBE CB DL, Foreword by Field Marshal Lord Guthrie GCB LVO OBE DL
References
- England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916–2007; General Register Office
- Brian Kimmins at 1914–1918.net Archived 8 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- "No. 30310". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 September 1917. p. 9994.
- "Kimmins, Brian". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
- "No. 37056". The London Gazette (Supplement). 27 April 1945. p. 2282.
- "Deaths". The Times. London, England. 17 November 1979. p. 28 – via The Times Digital Archive 1785–2008.