Edmond Schreiber

Born in London, England, on 30 April 1890, the son of Brigadier-General Acton Lemuel Schreiber, Edmond Charles Acton Schreiber was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, from where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the British Army's Royal Field Artillery on 23 December 1909.{{London Gazette|issue=28329|page=340|date=14 January 1910}} He was promoted to lieutenant on 23 December 1912.{{London Gazette|issue=28674|page=9784|date=24 December 1912}} He served in the First World War with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front, earning the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in December 1914, the citation for which reads:

{{Quote|Very gallant conduct on 14th September in saving horses which had become entangled in blocked road, and man-handling guns away from a position which had become untenable from a very heavy shell fire, continuing to work, although wounded.{{London Gazette|issue=28992|page=10189|date=1 December 1914}}{{sfn|Smart|2005|p=283}}}}

He was also four times mentioned in dispatches and ended the war as a brevet major, having been promoted to that rank on 1 January 1918.{{cite web|url=http://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_S01.html#Schreiber_ECA|title=Schreiber, Edmund|publisher=Unit Histories|access-date=29 June 2020}}{{sfn|Smart|2005|p=281}}

In the 1930s, during the interwar period, he attended the Staff College, Camberley, from 1923−1924, before returning there as an instructor from 1930−1933, later becoming a staff officer at the War Office from 1934−1937, Chief Staff Officer at the Senior Officers' School, Sheerness, in 1938, and was Brigadier Royal Artillery in Southern Command, from 1938−1939, the same year the Second World War began.{{sfn|Smart|2005|p=281}}

File:The British Army in the United Kingdom 1939-45 H39707.jpg

During the Second World War Schreiber served with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France between 1939 and 1940.Alanbrooke (2001), e.g. entries 29 November 1939, 11 December 1939, 22 April 1940. Promoted to acting Major-General on 26 April 1940,{{London Gazette|issue=34848|page=2881|date=10 May 1940|supp=y}} he became General Officer Commanding (GOC) 61st Infantry Division on the same date, before being made GOC 45th Infantry Division later in 1940. In May 1941 he was promoted to acting Lieutenant-General{{London Gazette|issue=35253|page=4853|date=19 August 1941|supp=y}} to take command of V Corps later that year. In May 1942 he received the rank of temporary lieutenant-general,{{London Gazette |issue=35555 |page=2067| supp=y|date=8 May 1942}} and in July that year he was appointed to command the British First Army which was later to be the parent organisation for Allied forces in French North Africa after Operation Torch in November. Schreiber had to resign after only two months, however, as he developed a kidney problem and became unfit for active service.Mead, p. 59.

Restricted to non-field roles, he became General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Western Command in 1942 and of South Eastern Command in 1944.[http://www.generals.dk/general/Schreiber/Sir_Edmund_Charles_Anton/Great_Britain.html Generals.dk]{{failed verification|date=April 2021}} Between 1944 and 1946, Schreiber was Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Malta.Alanbrooke (2001), e.g. entries 21 August 1944, 29 January 1945, 10 February 1945. He retired from the British Army after the war in 1947.{{failed verification|date=April 2021}}{{sfn|Smart|2005|p=281}}

He was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Devon in 1948 and National President of the Old Contemptibles Association in 1960.{{sfn|Smart|2005|p=281}}

Edmond Schreiber married Phyllis Barchard in 1916; there were two daughters.

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book|last = Alanbrooke|first = Field Marshal Lord| editor1-first=Alex| editor1-last=Danchev| editor2-first=Daniel| editor2-last=Todman|author-link = Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke|title = War Diaries 1939–1945|publisher = Phoenix Press|name-list-style=amp|year = 2001|isbn = 1-84212-526-5}}
• {{cite book| first=Nick| last=Smart| title=Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War| isbn=1844150496| year=2005| location=Barnesley| publisher=Pen & Sword}}

• [http://www.britishmilitaryhistory.co.uk/documents.php?aid=125&nid=16&start=15 Biography of Lieutenant General Sir Edmond SCHREIBER] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304003459/http://www.britishmilitaryhistory.co.uk/documents.php?aid=125&nid=16&start=15 |date=4 March 2016 }}
• [https://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_S01.html#Schreiber_ECA British Army Officers 1939–1945]
• [https://www.generals.dk/general/Schreiber/Edmund_Charles_Anton/Great_Britain.html Generals of World War II]

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Category:1890 births

Category:1972 deaths

Category:British Army generals of World War II

Category:British Army personnel of World War I

Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order

Category:Deputy lieutenants of Devon

Category:Governors and governors-general of Malta

Category:Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich

Category:Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley

Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath

Category:Knights of the Order of St John

Category:People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire

Category:Royal Artillery officers

Category:British Army lieutenant generals

Category:Academics of the Staff College, Camberley

Category:Military personnel from London