William Norman Herbert

Major General William Norman Herbert CB CMG DSO & Bar DL (26 August 1880 – 26 April 1949) was a senior British Army officer who served as colonel of the Northumberland Fusiliers and commanded the 23rd (Northumbrian) Division in the Battle of France during the Second World War.

For other people with the same name, see William Herbert (disambiguation).
William Herbert
Birth nameWilliam Norman Herbert
Born26 August 1880[1]
Fillongley, Warwickshire[2]
Died26 April 1949 (aged 68)[3]
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service1900–1939
1939–1940
RankMajor General
Service number22797
UnitNorthumberland Fusiliers
Commands held1st Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers
10th Brigade
50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division
23rd (Northumbrian) Division
Battles/warsSecond Boer War
World War I
World War II
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Distinguished Service Order & Bar

Military career

Herbert entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the British Army's Northumberland Fusiliers on 11 August 1900.[4] He saw active service in the Second Boer War from later that year, and was promoted to lieutenant on 12 December 1901.[5] Following the end of the war in June 1902, he returned to the United Kingdom on the SS Europan which arrived at Southampton in early September.[6]

He served in the First World War as Commanding Officer (CO) of the 1st Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers in which capacity he captured an enemy position together with fifty-nine prisoners for which he was awarded a bar to his Distinguished Service Order in January 1919, the citation for which reads:

He commanded his battalion with marked ability and skill, and when one of his advanced posts had been captured he organised and led a counter-attack, after a personal reconnaissance, whereby the position was recaptured, together with fifty-nine prisoners. Later, after an assaulting battalion had been held up by heavy machine-gun fire and his battalion was in reserve, he was ordered to clear the situation, which, after a close reconnaissance under heavy machine-gun fire, he did with complete success and slight casualties.[7]

After attending the Staff College, Camberley,[8] he became a staff officer at Northern Command in 1930,[9] commander of 10th Brigade in March 1932 and General Officer Commanding (GOC) 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division in February 1935.[10] He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 1 January 1935[11] and colonel of the Northumberland Fusiliers on 5 July 1935.[12]

Although he retired in February 1939, he was recalled during the Second World War as GOC 23rd (Northumbrian) Division to lead the deployment of that formation as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in the Battle of France in April 1940.[13] He retired for a second time when the division was disbanded on 30 June 1940.[13]

He settled in Worcestershire, and became deputy lieutenant for the county from 1946 until his death three years later in 1949.[14]

References
  1. UK, British Army Lists, 1882–1962
  2. 1881 England Census
  3. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1995
  4. "No. 27219". The London Gazette. 10 August 1900. p. 4947.
  5. Hart's Army list, 1903
  6. "The Army in South Africa – Troops returning home". The Times. No. 36858. London. 28 August 1902. p. 9.
  7. "No. 31119". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 January 1919. p. 578.
  8. Smart 2005, p. 149.
  9. "William Norman Herbert". Generals.dk. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  10. "Senior Army Commands" (PDF). Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  11. "No. 34238". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1935. p. 3.
  12. "Colonels". British Empire. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  13. "23rd (Northumbrian) Division". Unit Histories. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  14. Smart 2005, p. 150.

Bibliography
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