Henry Chambers (Indian Army officer)
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{{Infobox military person
|name = Henry Chambers
|image = The British Army in Burma 1945 SE4046.jpg
|image_size =
|alt =
|caption = Lieutenant General Sir William Slim (GOC-in-Chief 14th Army, left), Air Vice Marshal Stanley Vincent (AOC 221 Group South East Asia Air Forces, centre) and Major General Henry Chambers (GOC 26th Indian Division, right) at Government House, Rangoon, 8 May 1945.
|nickname =
|birth_date = {{birth date|1897|07|15|df=yes}}
|birth_place = Belfast, Ireland
|death_date = 1967 (aged 68–69)
|death_place =
|placeofburial =
|allegiance = United Kingdom
|branch = British Army
British Indian Army
|serviceyears = 1914–1948
|servicenumber = 9351
|rank = Major General
|unit = Royal Munster Fusiliers
117th Mahrattas
5th Mahratta Light Infantry
|commands = 26th Indian Infantry Division
71st Indian Infantry Brigade
64th Indian Infantry Brigade
|battles = First World War
Second World War
|awards = Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Mentioned in Despatches (2)
|relations =
|laterwork =
}}
Major General Henry Maurice Chambers, {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100|CBE}} (15 July 1897 – 1967) was a British Indian Army officer of the Second World War.
Military career
Chambers received a temporary commission in the British Army as a second lieutenant on 26 September 1914 to the Royal Munster Fusiliers.{{London Gazette|issue=28918|date=29 September 1914|page=7690}} He served at Gallipoli and on the Western Front in the First World War, and on 3 December 1917 he was commissioned a lieutenant into the 117th Mahrattas of the British Indian Army.{{London Gazette|issue=30759|date=21 June 1918|page=7333}}Jan 1941 Indian Army List war services supplement Chambers was promoted to the rank of captain in June 1919. From 1924 to 1925 he attended the Staff College, Camberley, and between the wars he served in India as a staff officer and became a lieutenant colonel in September 1939.'Chambers, Henry Maurice' in [http://www.unithistories.com/units_index/default.asp?file=../officers/personsx.html Indian Army Officers 1939–1945] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408060638/http://www.unithistories.com/units_index/default.asp?file=..%2Fofficers%2Fpersonsx.html |date=8 April 2018 }} at unithistories.com, accessed 18 August 2015
File:The War in the Far East- the Burma Campaign 1941-1945 SE4114.jpg
In 1942 Chambers became acting commander of the 64th Indian Infantry Brigade, before serving as a brigadier on the General Staff until 1944. He then became commander of the 71st Indian Infantry Brigade, serving with the brigade during the Burma Campaign.'Chambers, Henry Maurice' in [http://www.unithistories.com/units_index/default.asp?file=../officers/personsx.html Indian Army Officers 1939–1945] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408060638/http://www.unithistories.com/units_index/default.asp?file=..%2Fofficers%2Fpersonsx.html |date=8 April 2018 }} at unithistories.com, accessed 18 August 2015 In early 1945 he was made Acting General Officer Commanding of the 26th Indian Infantry Division, before taking permanent command of the division later in the year, serving in Burma and Sumatra. Chambers was twice mentioned in despatches for his actions during the war in the Far East, and in January 1946 he was invested as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.{{London Gazette|issue=37433|date=15 January 1946|page=493|supp=y }} He retired from the army as a major-general in 1948.
Family
In 1920 Chambers married Aileen Geraldine Olga Allison, with whom he had two sons. They divorced in 1947.'Chambers, Henry Maurice' in [http://www.unithistories.com/units_index/default.asp?file=../officers/personsx.html Indian Army Officers 1939–1945] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408060638/http://www.unithistories.com/units_index/default.asp?file=..%2Fofficers%2Fpersonsx.html |date=8 April 2018 }} at unithistories.com, accessed 18 August 2015 He married again in 1954 to Sybil Ismay Siddons. He retired to South Africa.Kelly's Handbook 1967
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://generals.dk/general/Chambers/Henry_Maurice/Great_Britain.html Generals of World War II]
- [https://www.unithistories.com/officers/IndianArmy_officers_C01.html#Chambers_HM Indian Army Officers 1939–1945]
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{{s-bef|before=Cyril Lomax}}
{{s-ttl|title=GOC 26th Indian Infantry Division|years=1945}}
{{s-non|reason=Robert Cecil Osborne Hedley}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chambers, Henry}}
Category:British Army personnel of World War I
Category:British Indian Army generals
Category:Maratha Light Infantry officers (British Indian Army)
Category:Royal Munster Fusiliers officers
Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley
Category:Indian Army generals of World War II