Frank Messervy

2022-01-08T18:21:17Z

51.155.5.76: /* Family */

{{Short description|British general and first Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{EngvarB|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name= Frank Walter Messervy
|image= British Generals 1939-1945 IND3143.jpg
|image_size=
|alt=
|caption= as the [[General Officer Commanding|GOC]] [[7th Indian Infantry Division]] during [[World War II]]
|order = 1st [[Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army]]
|term_start = 15 August 1947
|term_end = 10 February 1948
|predecessor = ''Position established''
|successor = [[Douglas Gracey]]
|nickname= "Bearded Man"
|birth_date= {{birth date|df=y|1893|12|09}}
|birth_place= [[Trinidad]]
|death_date= {{Death date and age|df=y|1974|02|02|1893|12|09}}
|death_place= [[Heyshott]], West Sussex, England
|placeofburial=
|allegiance= {{flag|British India}} {{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Dominion of Pakistan|Pakistan]]
|branch= {{army|British India}} {{small|(1913-47)}} {{army|PAK}} {{small|(1947-48)}}
|serviceyears= 1913–1948
|rank= [[General (United Kingdom)|General]]
|servicenumber=
|unit= [[4th Horse (Hodson's Horse)|9th Hodson's Horse]]
|commands= [[Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army]] (1947–48) [[Northern Command (India)|Northern Command, India]] (1946–47) [[Malaya Command]] (1945–46) [[IV Corps (United Kingdom)|IV Corps]] (1944–45) [[7th Indian Infantry Division]] (1943–44) [[43rd Armoured Division (India)|43rd Indian Armoured Division]] (1942–43) [[7th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)|7th Armoured Division]] (1942) [[1st (United Kingdom) Division|1st Armoured Division]] (1942) [[4th Infantry Division (India)|4th Indian Infantry Division]] (1941–42) [[9th Indian Infantry Brigade]] (1941) Gazelle Force (1941) [[13th Lancers|13th Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers]] (1938–39)
|battles= [[First World War]] [[Second World War]]
|awards= [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India]]<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=37977|date=6 June 1947|page=2574|supp=y}}</ref> [[Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]] [[Distinguished Service Order]]<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=35396|date=26 December 1941|page=7333|supp=y }}</ref> & [[Medal bar|Bar]]<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=36477|date=18 April 1944|page=1815|supp=y}}</ref> [[Mentioned in Despatches]] (3)<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=35396 |date=26 December 1941|pages=7339–7353|supp=y }}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=37015 |date=3 April 1945|page=1819|supp=y}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=37184|date=17 July 1945 |pages=3746–3753|supp=y }}</ref> [[Order of the Nile]] (Egypt)<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31736|date=13 January 1920|pages=698–700|supp=y}}</ref> [[Legion of Merit]] (United States)
|relations=
|laterwork= Honorary Colonel, 16th Light Cavalry (1945–48)<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=37238|date=24 August 1945|page=4299}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=38431|date=15 October 1948|page=5447}}</ref> Honorary Colonel, The Jat Regiment (1947–55)<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=40738|date=23 March 1956|page=1736}}</ref> Deputy Chief Scout (1949–50) Berkshire County Councillor (1953–56)
}}
[[General (United Kingdom)|General]] '''Sir Frank Walter Messervy''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|KCSI|KBE|CB|DSO1}} (9 December 1893 – 2 February 1974) was a [[British Indian Army]] officer in the [[First World War|First]] and [[Second World War]]s. Following its independence, he was the first [[Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army]] (15 August 1947 – 10 February 1948).<ref>A letter catalogued by MJF{{who|date=December 2013}}, dated 23 March 1948, refers to Sir [[Douglas David Gracey]] as Commander-in-Chief, Pakistan Army at that date; but the International ''Who's Who'' states that Messervy was Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army until August the same year.</ref> Previously, he had served as [[General Officer Commanding-in-Chief]] [[Northern Command (India)|Northern Command]], [[India]] in 1946 and 1947.

==Personal==
Messervy was born in 1893<ref>Frank Walter Meservy [sic], death registration March Quarter 1974, Registration District: Midhurst, 5h 2245.</ref>in Trinidad the oldest child of Walter John Messervy (born in [[Jersey]] in the English Channel), a bank manager in the colony (and later England) and his wife Myra Naida de Boissiere from Trinidad.<ref>{{Cite ODNB|title=Messervy, Sir Frank Walter (1893–1974), army officer : Oxford Dictionary of National Biography – oi|url=http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/31440|year=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/31440|access-date=16 July 2018}}</ref>

==Early career==
Messervy was born in [[Trinidad]], the son of a bank manager. Sent to [[England]], he was initially educated at [[Eton College]] and the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst]] and was commissioned into the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]] in 1913 and in 1914 joined [[9th Hodson's Horse]].<ref>[http://www.kingscollections.org/catalogues/lhcma/collection/m/me60-001 MESSERVY, Gen Sir Frank Walter (1893–1974)], Liddell Hart Military Archives, [[King's College, London]]</ref>{{sfn|Smart|2005|p=215}} which later became part of the 4th Duke of Cambridge's Own Hodson's Horse. He would see action in the [[World War I|First World War]] in France, [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] and [[Syria]] from 1914 to 1918. He later served in [[Kurdistan]] in 1919.{{sfn|Smart|2005|p=215}}

After attending the [[Staff College, Camberley]], from 1925−1926,{{sfn|Smart|2005|p=215}} Messervy was appointed as an instructor at the [[Pakistan Command and Staff College|Staff College, Quetta]] from 1932 to 1936. He was made Commanding Officer (CO) of the [[13th Duke of Cambridge's Own Lancers (Watson's Horse)|13th Duke of Connaught's's Own Lancers]], then in [[British Raj|British India]], during 1938 and 1939.

==Second World War==
===East Africa===
In September 1939, Messervy was promoted to colonel and became a General Staff Officer Grade 1 of the [[Indian 5th Infantry Division]], which was about to be formed at [[Secunderabad]]. In mid-1940, the division was sent to the [[Sudan]] to counter the threat from the Italian forces based in [[Italian East Africa]]. Messervy was appointed commander of ''Gazelle Force''.<ref>Richard Mead, p.295</ref> Created on 16 October 1940, it was a mobile reconnaissance and strike formation of expanded battalion size created from elements of 5th Indian Division. During the ensuing [[East African Campaign (World War II)|East African Campaign]], Messervy commanded [[Order of Battle, East African Campaign (World War II)#Northern Front, Eritrea|''Gazelle Force'']] with notable success, latterly attached to the [[Indian 4th Infantry Division]]. By 13 February 1941, the campaign had become static and Messervy's formation was disbanded.<ref name="Mead296">Richard Mead, p.296</ref>

In early March 1941, Messervy was promoted acting brigadier to command the Indian 5th Infantry Division's 9th Infantry Brigade and played a significant role in the third [[Battle of Keren]] during the second half of March 1941. His promotion was in part related to his actions during the advance from [[Kassala]] through [[Agordat]] to the early fighting at [[Keren, Eritrea|Keren]] during February.<ref name="Mead296"/>

When Major-General Noel Beresford-Peirse, then commander of the Indian 4th Infantry Division,<ref>Mason, Philip (1982), ‘The Indian Divisions Memorial, 1939–1945’, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Wellingborough, Skelton's Press</ref> was promoted to command [[XIII Corps (United Kingdom)|XIII Corps]] in [[Western Desert Campaign|North Africa]] Messervy, a brigadier for only six weeks, was appointed to take his place.<ref name="Mead296"/>

===Western Desert – North Africa===
[[file:British Generals 1939-1945 E7236.jpg|thumb|left|Messervy, unshaved, giving orders south-west of Gazala.]]
Messervy took 4th Indian Division to North Africa in April 1941, taking part in [[Operation Battleaxe]] in June. During [[Operation Crusader]] in November that year, 4th Indian Division, dug in on the Egypt – Libya border, played a key role in repelling Rommel's tanks after they had defeated the British armour at Sidi Rezegh. The division's battle groups took part in the [[Eighth Army (United Kingdom)|Eighth Army]]'s pursuit when Rommel withdrew from his defensive positions at Gazala in December, ending the year at [[Benghazi]].<ref name="Mead297">Richard Mead, p.297</ref>

In January 1942, Messervy was appointed to replace [[Herbert Lumsden]], the wounded commander of [[1st Armoured Division (United Kingdom)|1st Armoured Division]] which had recently arrived in the desert.<ref name="Mead298">Richard Mead, p.298</ref> During Rommel's attack from [[El Agheila]] in late January 1942, the division was outmatched by the Axis armour and heavily defeated. On Lumsden's return in March 1942, Messervy was moved to command [[7th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)|7th Armoured Division]] which had lost its commander, [[Jock Campbell (VC)|Jock Campbell]], killed in a motor accident. Messervy was the only [[British Indian Army]] officer to command a British division during the Second World War.<ref name="Mead298"/>

Messervy was known as the "Bearded Man" because he tended not to shave in battle. When Division HQ was overrun by the Germans at the start of the [[Battle of Gazala]], he was captured (27 May 1942); but, removing all insignia, managed to bluff the Germans into believing he was a [[batman (army)|batman]] and escaped with other members of his staff to rejoin Division HQ the following day.<ref name="Mead298"/>

Messervy knew little about tanks and was not considered a great success commanding armoured divisions by his superiors. He was dismissed from command of 7th Armoured Division by Eighth Army commander [[Neil Ritchie]] in late June 1942 following the severe defeat the division had sustained at the Battle of Gazala. He transferred to Cairo as Deputy Chief of General Staff, GHQ [[Middle East Command]] 1942 and was sent to India a few months later to raise [[Indian 43rd Armoured Division|43rd Indian Armoured Division]] as its commander. Originally intended for service in Persia, the division was disbanded in April 1943 when the threat to Persia was removed by the Soviet victory at [[Battle of Stalingrad|Stalingrad]].<ref name="Mead299">Richard Mead, p.299</ref>

===India and Burma===
Messervy was made Director of Armoured Fighting Vehicles, General Headquarters, India Command in 1943 where he argued successfully against the then prevailing view that large tanks could not be used in Burma. This was to have a significant impact in 1944 and 1945 when heavy armour was used to telling effect against the Japanese.<ref name="Mead299"/>

[[File:Major General Sir Frank Messervy inspecting Indian Army troops in Burma, 1944 (c).jpg|thumb|right|Lieutenant General Frank Messervy, GOC IV Corps in Burma, talks to a sepoy from the 17th Indian Infantry Division.]]

In July 1943, Messervy was appointed GOC Indian 7th Infantry Division which was sent to the [[Rakhine State|Arakan]] in Burma to join XV Corps in September. In the Japanese offensive in February 1944, despite having his headquarters overrun and scattered and his supply lines compromised, Messervy's brigades conducted a successful defence whilst being supplied by air ([[Battle of the Admin Box]]). After going on the attack in late February, 7 Indian Division was relieved in mid-March.<ref name="Mead300">Richard Mead, p.300</ref>

In March 1944, Messervy lost two brigades sent to reinforce the hard-pressed defences at [[Battle of Imphal|Imphal]] and [[Battle of Kohima|Kohima]] in India. By May, the whole division was back in the front line in the Kohima sector, fighting a key five-day battle at the Naga Village. It then advanced towards the [[Chindwin river]], combining with [[Indian 20th Infantry Division]] to inflict a heavy defeat on the Japanese at Ukhrul.<ref name="Mead300"/>

In December 1944, Messervy was appointed to command [[IV Corps (United Kingdom)|IV Corps]], which he led in the 1945 offensive during which, he captured the key communications centre at [[Meiktila]] in Burma and advanced to [[Rangoon]] between February and April. When Messervy returned from home leave hostilities had ceased. He was made Commander-in-Chief [[Malaya Command]] in 1945 after the [[Surrender of Japan|Japanese surrender]].<ref name="Mead301">Richard Mead, p.301</ref>

==Pakistan and Kashmir==
Close to the [[Partition of India]], Messervy was made General Officer Commander-in-Chief Northern Command India from 1946 to 1947. Finally when [[Pakistan]] came into being on 15 August 1947, he was appointed as the [[Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army]].<ref name="LGHonGen">{{London Gazette|issue=38411|date=21 September 1948|page=5135|supp=y}}</ref>

[[File:J&K04low.jpg|thumb|right|260px|Fighting in Kashmir at the time of Messervy's retirement]]

Messervy quickly got enmeshed in the Pakistani efforts to forcibly acquire [[Kashmir]] (then an unaffiliated [[Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)|princely state]]). On 20 August, a letter signed by Messervy went out to all the brigade headquarters in northwest Pakistan, attaching plans for a certain [[Operation Gulmarg]]. According to the plan, 20 lashkars of [[Federally Administered Tribal Areas|Pashtun tribesmen]] were to be armed and trained in various brigade locations in northwest Pakistan for an armed invasion of Kashmir. The information leaked out, one of the letters having fallen into the hands of an Indian officer Major [[Onkar Singh Kalkat]]. Kalkat was put under house arrest, but he escaped and made his way to India.<ref>
{{citation |last1=Malhotra |first1=Iqbal Chand |last2=Raza |first2=Maroof |title=Kashmir's Untold Story: Declassified |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eM6uDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT79 |year=2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-93-88912-85-3 |pages=79–80}}</ref> By the D-day of 22 October, when the attack was launched, Messervy was away in London, leaving General [[Douglas Gracey]], the Chief of General Staff, as the Acting Commander-in-Chief<ref>{{citation |chapter=Failures and Successes of Kashmir War: Muzaffarabad Seminar - 27 November 1990 |title=Defence and Media 1991 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=peHeAAAAMAAJ |year=1991 |publisher=Inter Services Public Relations, Pakistan |page=114}}: Quoting General Wajahat Hussain, former ADC to Muhammad Ali Jinnah: "This was the time to take important decisions and it appears that either he wanted to evade making decisions or pretended to be innocent about the conspiracy hatched by high-ranking British officers. His leave enabled General Gracey to take over as the acting Chief and he had to take the blame."</ref>
On his return, he stopped in Delhi, where [[Lord Mountbatten]] made him swear that he had not been asked for, nor had he provided, any help to the tribesmen.<ref name=Hajari>{{citation |last=Hajari |first=Nisid |authorlink=Nisid Hajari |title=Midnight's Furies: The Deadly Legacy of India's Partition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bO5zCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA215 |year=2015 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=978-0-547-66924-3 |pages=214–215}}</ref> But within a week he was found providing arms and ammunition to the Pakistani invading forces.<ref name=Hajari/> He complained to Governor [[George Cunningham (civil servant)|George Cunningham]] of the [[North-West Frontier Province|NWFP]] that Mountbatten had gone over to the side of the "Hindus".<ref>{{citation |last=Razvi |first=Mujtaba |title=The Frontiers of Pakistan: A Study of Frontier Problems in Pakistan's Foreign Policy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2MyFxoEq8cIC |year=1971 |publisher=National Publishing House}}: [From Cunningham's diary for 7 November 1947] "Messervy came up from Pindi for a talk; just back from England. He was in Delhi two days ago and was surprised to find Mountbatten directing the military operations in Kashmir. M. B. [Mountbatten] is daily becoming more and more an anathema to our Muslims, and it certainly seems as if he could see nothing except through Hindu eyes."</ref>{{efn|Cunningham had been aware, from his Governor's position, of the efforts to mobilise the Pasthun tribes. He had alerted Messervy, who apparently promised to warn Liaquat Ali Khan about the inadvisability of such an operation.<ref>{{citation |last=Hodson |first=H. V. |title=The Great Divide: Britain, India, Pakistan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MC2UoAEACAAJ |year=1969 |publisher=Hutchinson |location=London |page=447|isbn=9780090971503 }}</ref>}}

Pakistani officers narrate that both Messervy and Gracey were involved in running the day-to-day operations of Pakistan's [[First Kashmir War|Kashmir War]]. Officers were loaned out for commanding the rebel forces and shown on records as being absent.<ref>{{citation |chapter=Failures and Successes of Kashmir War: Muzaffarabad Seminar - 27 November 1990 |title=Defence and Media 1991 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=peHeAAAAMAAJ |year=1991 |publisher=Inter Services Public Relations |page=115}}: "A cell for planning on Kashmir was created in Military Operations Directorate under Brigadier Sher Khan.... Such officers were sent to assist the Mujahideen and were shown as retired or absent without leave. .. General Wajahat further said that "apart from planning military operations, General Messervy had a close liaison with the civil authorities. He used to come to the office at half past seven, Brigadier Sher Khan would present the report on the previous twenty four hours and get instructions for the next day. Then they would visit the operations room where consultations would continue till 10 a.m."</ref> Nevertheless, Messervy issued a statement on 12 November 1947, denying that any "serving Pakistan Army officers are directing operations in Kashmir", which was cited by Pakistan in the UN [[Security Council]] debates as proof of Pakistan's innocence.<ref>{{citation |last=Thorner |first=Alice |title=The Kashmir Conflict, Parts I and II |journal=Middle East Journal |volume=3 |number=1 |date=January 1949 |publisher=Middle East Institute |jstor=4322039}}: 'On November 12, General Sir Frank Messervy, the Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army, issued a communique stating that "there is absolutely no truth in the allegations made by the Government of India that serving Pakistan Army officers are directing operations in Kashmir against State forces" (Quoted by Sir Zafrullah Khan to the Security Council on January 17, 1948, Document S/P.V. 220, 63–65).'</ref>

Messervy was relieved of his post on 15 February 1948,<ref>{{citation |last=Millar |first=Thomas Bruce |title=The Commonwealth and the United Nations |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ACyPAAAAMAAJ |year=1967 |publisher=Sydney U.P. |page=28}}</ref> leading to his retirement in 1948.<ref name="Mead301"/> He was granted the honorary rank of general.<ref name="LGHonGen"/>
Later, he wrote an influential article on Kashmir in the ''Asiatic Review'', where he alleged that India had planned to militarily intervene in Kashmir several weeks before the event.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Webb |first1=Matthew J. |title=Escaping history or merely rewriting it? The significance of Kashmir's accession to its political future |journal=Contemporary South Asia |volume=20 |issue=4 |year=2012 |pages=471–485 |doi=10.1080/09584935.2012.737311|s2cid=143608576 }}: "While India's intervention was militarily successful, it was also highly controversial. General Sir Frank Messervy, Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army, alleged that India had planned to militarily intervene in the state several weeks before the event."</ref><ref>* {{citation |last=Korbel |first=Josef |authorlink=Josef Korbel |title=Danger in Kashmir |publisher=Princeton University Press |edition=second |year=1966 |orig-year=first published 1954 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Q7WCgAAQBAJ|pages=85–86|isbn=9781400875238 }}</ref>
He opined that if the pro-India [[Jammu & Kashmir National Conference|National Conference]] party was allowed to hold power in Kashmir, India would likely win a [[plebiscite]], but if Pakistan was allowed to hold on to the areas that it had captured, a Pakistan win was 'even more certain'. He had 'few doubts' as to which dominion most people of Kashmir would choose.<ref>{{citation |first=Christopher |last=Snedden |year=2005 |title=Would a plebiscite have resolved the Kashmir dispute? |journal=South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies |volume=28 |number=1 |pages=64–86 |doi=10.1080/00856400500056145 |s2cid=145020726 }}</ref> Historian [[Gowher Rizvi]] states that influences of this kind persuaded the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs [[Philip Noel-Baker]] to ensure that Pakistan's viewpoint was "not ignored" in the UN Security Council.<ref>{{citation |last=Rizvi |first=Gowher |authorlink=Gowher Rizvi |chapter=India, Pakistan and the Kashmir Problem |editor=Raju G. C. Thomas |title=Perspectives on Kashmir: the roots of conflict in South Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xrPtAAAAMAAJ |year=1992 |publisher=Westview Press |isbn=978-0-8133-8343-9 |page=73}}</ref>

Messervy died at home in the small village of [[Heyshott]]<ref>ODNB 1871-1980: Messervy</ref> in the south of [[England]] on 2 February 1974.<ref>England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995.</ref>

==Family==

In 1927 he married Patricia Waldegrave Courtney daughter of Lt Col Edward Arthur Waldegrave Courtney. They had a daughter and two sons.<ref>ODNB 1871-1980: Messervy</ref>

In September 1956, he pled guilty to indecently assaulting a thirteen-year-old girl. He had a previous conviction for indecent exposure, referred to in court as ‘similar troubles’. The victim was described as “of subnormal intelligence, untruthful, and dishonest, and with abnormal sexual tendencies”. Messervy was bound over for three years, and in passing sentence, the judge stated that he considered “the evidence showed clearly that he was not the instigator of the offence” against his child victim<ref>The Times, 11th September 1956</ref>

==Career==
* Commissioned into the [[British Indian Army]] (1913)<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=28683 |date=21 January 1913 |page=499}}</ref>
* Commissioned into the [[9th Hodson's Horse]] (1914)<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=28849|date=14 July 1914|page=5455}}</ref>
*Brigade Major – (1928–1932)<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33829|date=27 May 1932 |page=3419}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33829|date=27 May 1932|page=3418}}</ref>
* Instructor (GSO2) at [[Pakistan Command and Staff College|Command and Staff College]], [[Quetta]] (1932–1936)<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33884|date=18 November 1932|page=7344}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34264|date=13 March 1936|page=1660}}</ref>
* Commanding Officer, [[13th Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers]] (1938–1939)
* General Staff Officer 1, [[Indian 5th Infantry Division]], East Africa (1939–1941)
* Commanding Officer ''Gazelle Force'', [[Sudan]] and [[Eritrea]] (1940–1941)
* Commanding Officer, 9th Indian Brigade, Ethiopia (1941)
* General Officer Commanding, [[Indian 4th Infantry Division]], North Africa (1941–1942)
* General Officer Commanding, 1st Armoured Division, North Africa (1942)
* General Officer Commanding, 7th Armoured Division, North Africa (1942)
* Deputy Chief of the General Staff, HQ [[Middle East Command]] (1942)
* General Officer Commanding, Indian 43rd Armoured Division (1942–1943)
* Director Armoured Fighting Vehicles, India (1943)
* General Officer Commanding, [[Indian 7th Infantry Division]], India (1943–1944)
* General Officer Commanding, [[IV Corps (United Kingdom)|IV Corps]], Burma (1944–1945)
* General Officer Commander-In-Chief, [[Malaya Command]] (1945–1946)
* General Officer Commander-In-Chief, [[Northern Command (India)|Northern Command, India]] (1946–1947)<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=37801|date=29 November 1946 |page=5852}}</ref>
* [[Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army]] (1947–1948)<ref name="LGGen">{{London Gazette|issue=38041|date=8 August 1947|page=3739}}</ref>
* Retired (1948)<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=38400|date=10 September 1948|page=4907}}</ref>

==Promotions==
*Second Lieutenant-22 January 1913<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=28683|date=21 January 1913|page=499}}</ref>
*Lieutenant – 22 April 1915<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29186|date=8 June 1915|page=5526}}</ref>
*Captain – 22 January 1917<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30236|date=17 August 1917|page=8458}}</ref>
**Acting Major – 23 November to 27 December 1918<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33409|date=3 July 1928|page=5217|supp=y}}</ref>
**Brevet Major – 1 July 1929<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33513|date=2 July 1929|page=4362}}</ref>
*Major – 22 January 1931<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33693|date=27 February 1931|page=1357}}</ref>
**Local Lieutenant-Colonel – 1 September 1932<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33882|date=11 November 1932|page=7180}}</ref>
**Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel – 1 July 1933<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33955|date=30 June 1933|page=4383}}</ref>
*Lieutenant-Colonel – 10 April 1938<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34516|date=3 June 1938|page=3567|supp=y}}</ref>
*Colonel – 19 April 1940<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34832|date=16 April 1940|page=2301|supp=y}}</ref>
**Acting Major-General<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=35163|date=13 May 1941|page=2783|supp=y}}</ref> (Temporary Brigadier) – 14 April 1941
**Temporary Major-General – 14 April 1942<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=35533|date=21 April 1942|page=1799|supp=y}}</ref>
*Major-General – 17 April 1943<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=36003|date=4 May 1943|page=2043|supp=y}}</ref>
**Acting Lieutenant-General – 8 December 1944<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=37466|date=25 January 1946|page=701|supp=y}}</ref>
*Lieutenant-General – 1 June 1945<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=37294|date=2 October 1945|page=4890|supp=y}}</ref>
**Acting General – 15 August 1947<ref name="LGGen"/>
*Honorary General – 1948<ref name="LGHonGen"/>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book| first=Antony| last=Brett-James|title=Ball of fire – The Fifth Indian Division in the Second World War|url=http://ourstory.info/library/4-ww2/Ball/fireTC.html#TC|publisher=[[Gale & Polden]]|year=1951|page=481 pages}}
* {{cite book|first=James|last=Holland|author-link=James Holland (author)|title=Burma '44|publisher=Bantam Press|year=2016}}
* {{cite book|first=Compton|last=Mackenzie|author-link=Compton Mackenzie|title=Eastern Epic|publisher=Chatto & Windus, London|year=1951|page=623 pages}}
* Maule, Henry (1961). ''Spearhead General: The Epic Story of General Sir Frank Messervy and his Men in Eritrea, North Africa and Burma''.
*{{Cite book| first=Richard| last=Mead| title=Churchill's Lions: a biographical guide to the key British generals of World War II| year=2007| publisher=Spellmount| location=Stroud (UK)| isbn=978-1-86227-431-0}}
*{{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}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Frank Walter Messervy}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110911064242/http://www.britishmilitaryhistory.co.uk/documents.php?aid=120&nid=16&start=10 British Military History Biographies M]
*[http://www.generals.dk/general/Messervy/Sir_Frank_Walter/Great_Britain.html Generals of World War II]
*[http://www.unithistories.com/officers/IndianArmy_officers_M01.html#Messervy_FW Indian Army Officers 1939–1945]

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Noel Beresford-Peirse]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[4th Infantry Division (India)|GOC 4th Indian Infantry Division]]|years=1941–1942}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Francis Tuker]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Herbert Lumsden]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[1st (United Kingdom) Division|GOC 1st Armoured Division]]|years=January–February 1942}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Herbert Lumsden]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Jock Campbell (VC)|John Campbell]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[7th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)|GOC 7th Armoured Division]]|years=March–June 1942}}
{{s-aft|after=[[James Renton]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Thomas Corbett (Indian Army officer)|Thomas Corbett]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[7th Indian Infantry Division|GOC 7th Indian Infantry Division]]|years=1943–1945}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Geoffrey Charles Evans|Geoffrey Evans]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Geoffry Scoones|Sir Geoffry Scoones]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[IV Corps (United Kingdom)|GOC IV Corps]]|years=1944–1945}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Francis Tuker|Sir Francis Tuker]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Miles Dempsey|Sir Miles Dempsey]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Malaya Command|GOC Malaya Command]]|years=1945}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Alexander Galloway|Sir Alexander Galloway]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Richard O'Connor|Sir Richard O'Connor]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Northern Command (India)|GOC-in-C Northern Command, India]]|years=1946–1947}}
{{s-non|reason=Command disbanded}}
|-
{{s-new}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army|C-in-C of the Pakistan Army]]|years=1947–1948}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Douglas Gracey]]}}
{{end}}

{{Pakistan Army Staff Chief}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Messervy, Frank}}
[[Category:1893 births]]
[[Category:1974 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Indian Army generals of World War II]]
[[Category:Commanders-in-Chief, Pakistan Army]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Legion of Merit]]
[[Category:People of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947]]
[[Category:Jersey people]]
[[Category:British expatriates in Pakistan]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:British Indian Army generals]]

Bharatpedia - User contributions [en]

Frank Messervy