Philip Gregson-Ellis

Major General Philip George Saxon Gregson-Ellis, CB, OBE (31 August 1898 – 20 October 1956) was a senior British Army officer who saw active service during both the First World War and the Second World War, where he commanded the 5th Infantry Division during the Italian Campaign in 1944.

Philip Gregson-Ellis
Gregson-Ellis in 1923
Born(1898-08-31)31 August 1898
Edinburgh, Scotland
Died20 October 1956(1956-10-20) (aged 58)
Kent, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Years of service1917–1950
RankMajor General
Service number15399
UnitGrenadier Guards
Commands held
Battles/warsFirst World War
Second World War
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath
Officer of the Order of the British Empire

Military career

Born in Edinburgh in August 1898, and coming from a military family, Philip Gregson-Ellis was educated at Eton College and later entered the Royal Military College at Sandhurst during the First World War. It was from here that he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the British Army's Grenadier Guards in December 1917,[1] and with whom he saw service on the Western Front.[2]

He remained in the army after the war, and, during the interwar period, attended the Staff College at Camberley from 1928 to 1929 and, after serving as brigade major of the 5th Infantry Brigade in 1931, served in the same role with the 1st Guards Brigade from 1932 to 1934.[2] He was then appointed an instructor at the Staff College in 1937, where he would remain for another two years.[3][2]

General Sir Harold Alexander with Major General Lucian Truscott and other senior Allied commanders at Anzio, Italy, 5 May 1944. Major General John Hawkesworth is pictured on the far right wearing a parachutist helmet, and to the left of him is Major General Philip Gregson-Ellis.

Gregson-Ellis served in the Second World War as a General Staff Officer with the British Expeditionary Force in France before becoming Commanding Officer of the 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards in 1940.[3] He continued his war service as a brigadier on the staff in Northern Ireland from 1941 and as Deputy Chief of Staff for Home Forces in 1942 before taking command of the 30th Armoured Brigade in January 1943. He then assumed command of the 1st (Guards) Brigade in July, which was then serving in North Africa.[3][2] He was appointed General Officer Commanding (GOC) 5th Infantry Division in January 1944 and commanded the division in the Italian campaign, leading it in the Battle of Anzio and Operation Diadem.[3][2]

After the war Gregson-Ellis returned to the Staff College, Camberley, as commandant, and then went back to the 5th Division for a second tour as its commander.[3] He was appointed GOC 44th (Home Counties) Infantry Division in 1947 and finally retired from the British Army in 1950.[3][2]

Family

In 1921 Gregson-Ellis married Joan Henllys Lloyd.[4][2]

References
  1. "No. 30438". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 December 1917. p. 13335.
  2. Smart 2005, p. 130.
  3. "Gregson-Ellis, Philip". Generals.dk. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  4. Bronwydd Estate Records

Bibliography
  • Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnesley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 1844150496.
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