Richard Fyffe
Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Alan Fyffe KBE CB DSO MC (12 August 1912 – 24 December 1972) was Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Intelligence).
Sir Richard Fyffe | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 12 August 1912 |
| Died | 24 December 1972 (aged 60) |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |  British Army |
| Years of service | 1932−1971 |
| Rank | Lieutenant-General |
| Service number | 53778 |
| Unit | Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) |
| Commands held | 1st Battalion, Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) 61st Lorried Infantry Brigade 11th Infantry Brigade Army Air Corps 54th (East Anglian) Division/District |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companion of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order Military Cross |
Military career
Fyffe was commissioned into the Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) in 1932.[1]
He served in World War II initially as a General Staff Officer and then with his regiment in North Africa and Italy.[1] He earned his Military Cross as a company commander with 10th Battalion, Rifle Brigade (Tower Hamlets Rifles) in Tunisia in 1943.[2][3] After a short period commanding a battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment he returned to command 10th Rifle Brigade and later 2nd Rifle Brigade through the Italian Campaign.[4] He temporarily commanded 61st Infantry Brigade early in 1945,[5] and on 3 May 1945 he went blindfolded behind enemy lines to negotiate the surrender of a German corps.[6] He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order at the end of the war.[3]
After the War he joined the Directing Staff at the Staff College, Camberley before moving to General Headquarters, Far East Land Forces in 1947.[1] He was appointed Assistant Adjutant General at the War Office in 1950 and then Commanding Officer of 1st Bn Rifle Brigade in 1953.[1] He was made Commander of 61st Lorried Infantry Brigade in 1955 and Commander of 11th Infantry Brigade in 1956.[1]
He was appointed Deputy Military Secretary at the War Office in 1957 and Brigadier commanding the Army Air Corps in 1960.[1] He moved on to be Director of Public Relations at the War Office in 1961 and General Officer Commanding 54th (East Anglian) Division/District of the Territorial Army (TA) in July 1963.[1] He was made Head of the British Army Staff at Washington D. C. in 1965.[1]
He was appointed Director of Service Intelligence in 1967 and Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Intelligence) at the Ministry of Defence in 1968; he retired in 1971.[1]
Notes
- "Fyffe, Richard". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archive. Archived from the original on 23 September 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
- "No. 35969". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 April 1943. p. 1619.
- Hastings, p. 451.
- Hastings, pp. 241, 254, 288.
- Joslen, p. 297.
- Hastings, p. 339.
References
- Maj R.H.W.S. Hastings, The Rifle Brigade in the Second World War 1939–1945, Aldershot: Gale & Polden, 1950/Uckfield: Naval & Military, 2004, ISBN 978-1-4745-3670-7.
- Lt-Col H.F. Joslen, Orders of Battle, United Kingdom and Colonial Formations and Units in the Second World War, 1939–1945, London: HM Stationery Office, 1960/London: London Stamp Exchange, 1990, ISBN 0-948130-03-2/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2003, ISBN 1-843424-74-6.