Henry Templer Alexander
{{Short description|British Army general (1911–1977)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
|name=Henry Templer Alexander
|birth_date={{birth date|1911|5|17|df=y}}
|death_date= {{death date and age|1977|3|16|1911|5|17|df=y}}
|image= Henry Templer Alexander.jpg
|caption= Major General Alexander in 1962
|nickname=
|birth_place=
|death_place=
|allegiance= {{flag|United Kingdom|23px}}
|branch= {{army|United Kingdom|23px}}
{{army|Ghana|23px}}
|serviceyears=1931–1965
|servicenumber=52569
|rank= Major General
|unit=Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
|commands=Chief of the Defence Staff (Ghana)
Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
|battles=World War II
|awards=
|relations=
|laterwork=
}}
Major General Henry Templer Alexander, CB, CBE, DSO (17 May 1911 – 16 March 1977) was a British Army officer who served as Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces between 1960 and 1961.
Early life
Alexander was born on 17 May 1911. He was the son of Major General H. L. Alexander, CB, CMG, DSO, and Dorothy Alexander. He was educated at Sedbergh School, Yorkshire, then an all-boys public school.{{cite web|title=ALEXANDER, Maj.-Gen. Henry Templer|url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U151665|work=Who Was Who|publisher=A & C Black|accessdate=22 November 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search2?coll_id=267&inst_id=21 |title=ALEXANDER, Maj Gen Henry Templer (1911-1977) |accessdate=2007-04-14 |publisher=Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives}}
Military career
On 27 August 1931, having attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Alexander was commissioned into the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) as a second lieutenant.{{London Gazette |issue=33748 |date=28 August 1931 |page=5623 }} He was promoted in 1934 as a lieutenant. In 1939, he was promoted to the rank of Captain. He then served as an instructor at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst for two years. Between 1939 and 1945, he saw action in the Second World War in North Africa, Italy, India, Burma, and North West Europe. He was promoted Major in 1943 and Commanding Officer, 2 Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) in Italy in 1944. He has also served as Chief Instructor, School of Combined Operations, 1946–1947 and General Staff Officer 1 first at Hong Kong, 1948–1950, then at Camberley, Surrey.
Alexander became a Colonel in 1954 and was appointed Commanding Officer, 1 Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) between 1954 and 1955 and he also commanded 26th Gurkha Infantry Brigade in Malaya between 1955 and 1957. Between 1958 and 1960, he served as Senior Instructor, Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, Brigade General Staff, Department of the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, War Office and at the Imperial Defence College.
Between 1960 and 1961, he worked with the Ghana Armed Forces as Chief of Defence Staff.{{London Gazette|issue=41949 |date=5 February 1960 |page=1005 |supp=y}} During that period, he commanded the Ghanaian contingent of Operation des Nations Unies au Congo, the UN force in the newly independent Congo. Upon the initial Congolese request for assistance, before the approval for deployment of UN forces, Alexander flew into Leopoldville with a single Ghanaian platoon.Simon Baynham, The Military and Politics in Nkumrah's Ghana, Westview, 1988, Chapters 4 & 5 The Ghanaian troops were subsequently 're-hatted' as UN forces rather than under bilateral terms, and augmented.
In 1961 the remaining British Army personnel left Ghana and Major-General Stephen Otu succeeded Alexander.{{cite web|url=http://ghana.gov.gh/ghana/volume_4_chapter_1_security_services.jsp |title=Volume 4 Chapter 1 - The Security Services |access-date=2008-11-05 |work=National Reconciliation Committee report |publisher=Ghana government |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090717020247/http://ghana.gov.gh/ghana/volume_4_chapter_1_security_services.jsp |archive-date=July 17, 2009 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.gaf.mil.gh/index.php?CatId=117 |title=Past General Officers Commanding /chiefs of the Defence Staff |access-date=2008-11-05 |date=6 February 2008 |work=Official website |publisher=Ghana Armed Forces |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081016095242/http://www.gaf.mil.gh/index.php?CatId=117 |archive-date=16 October 2008 }}
From 1962 until his retirement Alexander served as Chief of Staff of Northern Command.
Later life
Honours and decorations
Publications
- African tightrope: My two years as Nkrumah's Chief of Staff (Pall Mall Press, London, 1965).
References
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{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-new}}
{{s-ttl|title=Chief of Defence Staff |years=1960–1961}}
{{s-aft|after=Major General Stephen J. A. Otu}}
{{s-bef|before=Major General A. G. V. Paley
General Officer Commanding the Ghana Regiment of Infantry }}
{{s-ttl|title=Ghana Army Commander |years=1960–1961}}
{{s-aft|after=Lieutenant General Joseph Ankrah}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Henry Templer}}
Category:Academics of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst
Category:People educated at Sedbergh School
Category:British Army major generals
Category:British Army personnel of World War II
Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst
Category:Chiefs of Army Staff (Ghana)