Ernest Down

Ernest Down was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Dorset Regiment in February 1923.{{London Gazette|issue=32792|page=807|date=2 February 1923}}

Down served in the Second World War, attending a short course at the Staff College, Camberley in 1940,{{sfn|Dover|1981|p=85}} being appointed commander of the 2nd Parachute Brigade, then serving in North Africa in 1942.{{cite web|url=http://www.generals.dk/general/Down/Ernest_Edward/Great_Britain.html |title=Down, Ernest|publisher= Generals.dk|accessdate=9 June 2020}} He went on to be General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1st Airborne Division, taking over from Major General George Hopkinson who had been killed in action in September 1943, in the early stages of the Allied invasion of Italy. He was then GOC of the 9th Indian Airborne Division, which itself became the 44th Indian Airborne Division in 1944 and GOC of 2nd Indian Airborne Division in 1945.

After the war, on 26 September 1946, Down was appointed GOC of the 4th Infantry Division in Greece. In 1947, after the division had been disbanded, he became GOC of all British Troops in Greece. Then in 1948, he became head of the British Military Mission to Greece.{{London Gazette|issue=37746|page=4933|supp=y|date=1 October 1946}}{{cite web|url=https://go.gale.com/apps/doc/CS271156822/TTDA?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=b3db7c7a|title=Obituary: Lieut-General Sir Ernest Down|work=The Times|date=22 February 1980|issue=60557|page=16|access-date=8 December 2021|archive-url=|url-status=}} Returning to the United Kingdom, he was appointed District Officer Commanding Mid-West District and GOC 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division in 1950 and GOC-in Chief of Southern Command in 1952, a post from which he retired in 1955.

Down was also Colonel of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry from 1955 to 1957.

{{cite web|url=http://www.britisharmedforces.org/li_pages/regiments/ksli/shrop_colonels.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120720170119/http://www.britisharmedforces.org/li_pages/regiments/ksli/shrop_colonels.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 July 2012|title=Succession of Colonels 1755 – 1963|publisher=British Armed Forces|accessdate=14 February 2016}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book|last=Dover|first=Major Victor|title=The Sky Generals|publisher=Cassell|year=1981|isbn=0-304-30480-8}}
• {{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}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120317005857/http://www.britishmilitaryhistory.co.uk/documents.php?aid=113&nid=16&start=0 Biography of Lieutenant General Sir Ernest Edward Down]
• [https://generals.dk/general/Down/Ernest_Edward/Great_Britain.html Generals of World War II]

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{{s-bef|before=George Hopkinson}}

{{s-ttl|title=GOC 1st Airborne Division|years=1943–1944}}

{{s-aft|after=Roy Urquhart}}

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{{s-bef|before=Colin Callander}}

{{s-ttl|title=GOC 4th Infantry Division|years=1946–1947}}

{{s-non|reason=Post disbanded}}

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{{s-bef|before=George Wood}}

{{s-ttl|title=GOC 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division|years=1950–1952}}

{{s-aft|after=Edric Bastyan}}

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{{s-bef|before=Sir Ouvry Roberts}}

{{s-ttl|title=GOC-in-C Southern Command|years=1952–1955}}

{{s-aft|after=Sir George Erskine}}

|-

{{s-hon}}

{{s-bef|before=John Grover}}

{{s-ttl|title=Colonel of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry|years=1955–1957}}

{{s-aft|after=William Reginald Cox}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Down, Ernest}}

Category:1902 births

Category:1980 deaths

Category:Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley

Category:Military personnel from Cornwall

Category:British Army generals of World War II

Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath

Category:Dorset Regiment officers

Category:British Army lieutenant generals

Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst