Robert Arkwright
{{Short description|British Army general}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Robert Arkwright
| image = Senior British and French Army officers observe a NATO exercise in Germany.jpg
| image_size = 200px
| alt =
| caption = Senior British and French Army officers observe a NATO exercise in Germany, 1950. Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Stephens explains the exercise to a group of officers, including Général d'armée Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, Major-General Robert Arkwright, and Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Keightley.
| nickname =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1903|07|30|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Bickley, Kent, England
| death_date = {{death date and age|1971|11|14|1903|07|30|df=yes}}
| death_place = Swindon, Wiltshire
| placeofburial =
| allegiance = United Kingdom
| branch = British Army
| serviceyears = 1924–1951
| rank = Major-General
| servicenumber = 28043
| unit = 12th Royal Lancers
| commands = 7th Armoured Division (1949–1951)
56th (London) Armoured Division (1948–1949)
2nd Infantry Division (1946)
23rd Armoured Brigade (1943–1946)
| battles = Second World War
Greek Civil War
| awards = Companion of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Service Order & Bar
| relations =
| laterwork =
}}
Major-General Robert Harry Bertram Arkwright, {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|CB|DSO1}} (30 July 1903 – 14 November 1971) was a British Army officer who served in the Second World War and later commanded the 2nd Infantry Division.{{cite news |title= Obituary: Maj-Gen R. H. B. Arkwright |work=The Times |date=15 November 1971 |page= 14 }}
Early life
Arkwright was born in Bickley, Kent, England, the son of Bertram Harry Godfrey Arkwright (1879–1949) and his wife Grace Emma Julia Hurt. Francis Arkwright was his younger brother.{{cite book |last1=Howard |first1=Joseph Jackson |title=Visitation of England and Wales |publisher=Priv. print. |date=1908 |page=[https://archive.org/details/visitationengla03crisgoog/page/n117 79] |url=https://archive.org/details/visitationengla03crisgoog |quote=Robert Harry Bertram Arkwright. |accessdate=12 February 2020 |language=en}}
In 1927 Arkwright married Kathleen Gladys Hanbury.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20011120021840/http://www.kemblefamily.com/ Kemble Family]}} He lived at Pen y Bryn Hall in Montgomery.[https://books.google.com/books?id=Gql3JbSYeG4C&dq=Major-General+robert+Arkwright&pg=PA60 A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Volume 14, By Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans, p.60]
Military career
After attending the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Arkwright was commissioned into the 12th Royal Lancers on 31 January 1924.{{cite web|url=http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/ARKWRIGHT.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121003183133/http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/ARKWRIGHT.shtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 October 2012|title=Arkwright, Robert|publisher= Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives|accessdate=16 June 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_A07.html#Arkwright_RHB|title=British Army officer histories|publisher=Unit Histories|access-date=2022-04-18}} He attended the Staff College, Camberley from 1934 to 1935.
Arkwright served in the Second World War, initially at the War Office as a General Staff Officer Grade 2 (GSO2), then as Deputy Assistant Adjutant General for the 1st Armoured Division during the Battle of France, as a General Staff Officer with the 8th Armoured Division and as brigadier responsible for Armoured Fighting Vehicles in the Eighth Army, before being made commander of the 23rd Armoured Brigade in 1943. As commander of the 23rd Armoured Brigade, he took part in the Sicily landings, the Italy landings, both part of the Italian Campaign, and later the Civil War in Greece.[http://www.stepneyrobarts.co.uk/2098.htm Major-General Robert Harry Bertram Arkwright] After the war he became General Officer Commanding the 2nd Infantry Division in 1946, Director of the Royal Armoured Corps in 1947 and General Officer Commanding the 56th (London) Armoured Division in 1948. His last appointment was as General Officer Commanding 7th Armoured Division from 1949 until his retirement in 1951.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_A07.html#Arkwright_RHB British Army Officers 1939–1945]
- [https://generals.dk/general/Arkwright/Robert_Harry_Bertram/Great_Britain.html Generals of World War II]
{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=Cameron Nicholson}}
{{s-ttl|title=GOC 2nd Division|years=1946–1947}}
{{s-aft|after=John Churcher}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=Gerald Lloyd-Verney}}
{{s-ttl|title=GOC 56th (London) Armoured Division|years=1948–1949}}
{{s-aft|after=Harold Pyman}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=Euan Miller}}
{{s-ttl|title=GOC 7th Armoured Division|years=1949–1951}}
{{s-aft|after=Charles Jones}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arkwright, Robert}}
Category:War Office personnel in World War II
Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst
Category:Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley
Category:People of the Greek Civil War
Category:British Army major generals
Category:12th Royal Lancers officers
Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath
Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Category:British Army brigadiers of World War II
Category:Military personnel from the London Borough of Bromley