Valentine Blomfield
{{Short description|British Army general (1898–1980)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
|name=Valentine Blomfield
|birth_date=29 March 1898
|birth_place=
|death_date=11 January 1980 (aged 81)
|death_place=
|image= Valentine Blomfield.jpg
|caption= Blomfield as Colonel of the King's Own Royal Border Regiment in 1959.
|nickname=
|allegiance= United Kingdom
|serviceyears= 1916−1954
|servicenumber= 13747
|rank= Major-General
|branch= British Army
|current position=
|commands=71st Infantry Brigade
42nd (Lancashire) Division
|unit=Border Regiment
King's Own Royal Border Regiment
|battles=First World War
Waziristan campaign
Second World War
|awards=Companion of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Service Order
Mentioned in dispatches (2)
|laterwork=
|relations=David Blomfield (son)
}}
Major-General Valentine Blomfield {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|CB|DSO}} (29 March 1898 – 11 January 1980) was a British Army officer.
Military career
Blomfield entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, from where he was commissioned into the Border Regiment on 7 April 1916.{{London Gazette|issue=29537|page=3684|date=4 April 1916|supp=y}} He saw action during the Western Front during the First World War and was the deployed to India during Waziristan campaign.{{cite web|url=https://www.dnw.co.uk/auction-archive/lot-archive/lot.php?department=Medals&lot_uid=225215|title=Major-General V. Blomfield, Border Regiment|publisher=DNW|accessdate=30 May 2020}}
Remaining in the army during the interwar period, he attended the Staff College, Camberley from 1934 to 1935.{{London Gazette|issue=34017|page=541|date=23 January 1934}} Following this, he was appointed as a Staff Captain with the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division, a Territorial Army (TA) formation, from June 1936.{{London Gazette|issue=34302|page=4315|date=7 July 1936}} On 1 August 1938 he was promoted to major.{{London Gazette|issue=34538|page=5024|date=5 August 1938|supp=y}}
He was deployed to France with the British Expeditionary Force in September 1939 during the Second World War. After being promoted to the local rank of brigadier on 16 March 1942,{{Cite web|url=https://generals.dk/general/Blomfield/Valentine/Great_Britain.html|title=Biography of Major-General Valentine Blomfield (1898 – 1980), Great Britain|website=generals.dk}} he served at the War Office in London, where he was Deputy Director of Staff Duties until December 1943. After this, he later served as commander of 71st Infantry Brigade, part of the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division, in France during the Battle of Normandy in the summer of 1944, for which he was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order.{{London Gazette|issue=36917|page=678|date=30 January 1945|supp=y}} He continued to command the brigade until September 1944 when he was wounded. On 1 August 1945 he was promoted to the local rank of major-general.{{London Gazette|issue=37239|page=4319|date=24 August 1945|supp=y}}
After being appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1947 New Year Honours{{London Gazette|issue=37835|page=3|date=31 December 1946|supp=y}} he became Director of Personal Services at the War Office in September 1947 and General Officer Commanding 42nd (Lancashire) Division in October 1950 before retiring in December 1953.{{cite web|url=https://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/Army%20Commands%201860-.pdf|title=Army Commands|accessdate=30 May 2020}}
He was honorary colonel of the Border Regiment from 1952 to 1959{{cite web|url=http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/034Bordr.htm |title=The Border Regiment |publisher=Regiments.org |accessdate=18 October 2016 |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070227212001/http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/034Bordr.htm |archivedate=27 February 2007 |df=dmy }} and then honorary colonel of the King's Own Royal Border Regiment from 1959 to 1961.{{cite web|url=http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/004KORBR.htm |title=The King's Own Royal Border Regiment |publisher=regiment.org |accessdate=18 October 2016 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070223001032/http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/004KORBR.htm |archivedate=23 February 2007 }}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://generals.dk/general/Blomfield/Valentine/Great_Britain.html Generals of World War II]
{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=Vyvyan Evelegh}}
{{s-ttl|title=GOC 42nd (Lancashire) Division|years=1950–1953}}
{{s-aft|after=William Stratton}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blomfield, Valentine}}
Category:Border Regiment officers
Category:British Army generals of World War II
Category:British Army major generals
Category:British Army personnel of World War I
Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath
Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst
Category:Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley