Aksdw: minor cleanup references per sources further and fixed typos

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← Older revision		Revision as of 19:54, 23 September 2022
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			{{Short description\|British Army general (1892–1972)}}
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	[[Category:Border Regiment officers]]		[[Category:Border Regiment officers]]
			[[Category:British Army lieutenant generals]]
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			[[Category:Military personnel of British India]]
	[[Category:People educated at Marlborough College]]		[[Category:People educated at Marlborough College]]
	[[Category:People from Motihari]]		[[Category:People from Motihari]]
	[[Category:Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)]]		[[Category:Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)]]
	[[Category:Recipients of the Military Cross]]		[[Category:Recipients of the Military Cross]]
			[[Category:British people in colonial India]]

>Dawnseeker2000: date format audit, link maintenance

2021-04-06T08:34:08Z

date format audit, link maintenance

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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
|name=Noel Irwin
|image=File:Noel-MacKintosh-Stuart-Irwin.jpg
|image_size=175px
|caption=
|birth_date=24 December 1892
|death_date=21 December 1972 (aged 79)
|birth_place=[[Motihari]], [[British Raj|British India]]
|death_place=[[Holford]], [[Somerset]], [[England]]
|placeofburial=
|nickname=
|allegiance={{flag|United Kingdom}}
|branch={{army|United Kingdom}}
|serviceyears=1911–1948
|rank=[[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-General]]
|servicenumber=4987
|unit=[[Essex Regiment]] [[Border Regiment]]
|commands=[[West Africa Command]] [[Eastern Command (India)|Eastern Army, India]] [[IV Corps (United Kingdom)|IV Corps]] [[XI Corps (United Kingdom)|XI Corps]] [[38th (Welsh) Infantry Division]] [[2nd Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|2nd Infantry Division]] [[6th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|6th Infantry Brigade]] 8th Battalion, [[Royal Leicestershire Regiment|Leicestershire Regiment]] 2nd Battalion, [[Royal Lincolnshire Regiment|Lincolnshire Regiment]] 1st Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment
|battles=[[World War I]] [[World War II]]
|awards= [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]] [[Distinguished Service Order]] & [[Medal bar|Two Bars]] [[Military Cross]] [[Mentioned in dispatches]] (4) [[Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (France)|Croix de guerre]] (France)
|relations=
|laterwork=
}}
[[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant General]] '''Noel Mackintosh Stuart Irwin''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|CB|DSO}} & [[Medal bar|Two Bars]], [[Military Cross|MC]] (24 December 1892 – 21 December 1972) was a senior [[British Army]] [[Officer (armed forces)|officer]], who played a prominent role in the British Army after the [[Dunkirk evacuation]], and in the [[Burma campaign]] during the [[World War II|Second World War]]. He was also instrumental in some reforms to the training and equipment of British soldiers after the [[Battle of France|defeat in France]] in 1940, intended to meet the demands of modern warfare.

==Early life and First World War==
Noel Irwin was the eldest son of William Stuart Irwin of [[Motihari]], [[Bihar and Orissa]], [[British India|India]]. He was educated at [[Marlborough College]], before entry into the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst]].<ref name="Officers of the British Army">{{cite web|url=http://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_I01.html#Irwin_NMS|title=British Army officer histories|publisher=Unit Histories|accessdate=2017-09-06}}</ref><ref name="Smart169">Smart, p. 169</ref>

He was married twice; first in 1918 to Margaret Maud Bavin who died in 1963, and in 1966 to Mrs Elizabeth Collier (née Fröhlich). He had one son by his first wife.<ref name="Officers of the British Army" />

Irwin graduated from Sandhurst in 1912 and was appointed as a second lieutenant in the [[Essex Regiment]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28641|page=6537|date=3 September 1912}}</ref> He was posted to the regiment's 2nd Battalion, with which he remained until the outbreak of the [[First World War]] almost two years later, in August 1914.

Irwin's record of service during the war was outstanding. He saw action on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] throughout the conflict, initially serving with his battalion, then part of the [[12th Armoured Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|12th Brigade]] of the [[4th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|4th Division]], in most of the major battles of 1914 and 1915, before serving in the final two years as the [[Commanding Officer]] (CO) of the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the [[Lincolnshire Regiment]] and the 8th Battalion of the [[Leicestershire Regiment]].<ref name=lh>[http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/IRWIN1.shtml Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives]</ref><ref name="Smart169"/> Still a second lieutenant upon war's outbreak, Irwin advanced quickly in rank, being promoted to [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] on 24 September 1914,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28977|page=9405|date=17 November 1914}}</ref> [[Acting (rank)|temporary]] [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] on 9 May 1915,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29226|page=6811|date=9 July 1915|supp=y}}</ref> captain on 7 November 1915,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30045|page=4184|date=1 May 1917|supp=y}}</ref> acting major on 10 March 1917,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30045|page=4184|date=1 May 1917|supp=y}}</ref> and acting [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|lieutenant colonel]] on 27 April 1917,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30112|page=5497|date=1 June 1917|supp=y}}</ref> before reverting to acting major on 1 June 1917.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30193|page=7411|date=20 July 1917|supp=y}}</ref> He was again made an acting lieutenant colonel on 23 August 1917.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30333|page=10552|date=12 October 1917|supp=y}}</ref> He was promoted to temporary lieutenant colonel on 6 April 1918,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30818|page=8977|date=26 July 1918|supp=y}}</ref> and again temporary lieutenant colonel on 1 July 1918.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31220|page=3257|date=7 March 1919|supp=y}}</ref>

He was awarded the [[Military Cross]] on 3 July 1915,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29215|page=6536|date=2 July 1915|supp=y}}</ref> the [[Distinguished Service Order]] (DSO) on 1 January 1918<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=13186|page=28|date=2 January 1918|city=e}}</ref> with two [[Medal bar|bar]]s, awarded respectively on 24 September 1918<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=13327|page=3566|date=26 September 1918|city=e}}</ref> and 11 January 1919,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=13385|page=224|date=13 January 1919|city=e}}</ref> and was four times [[mentioned in dispatches]], on 1 January 1916,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29422|page=46|date=31 December 1915|supp=y}}</ref> on 22 May 1917,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30093|page=5159|date=22 May 1917|supp=y}}</ref> 21 December 1917,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30441|page=13365|date=18 December 1917|supp=y}}</ref> and 28 December 1918,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31085|page=15155|date=27 December 1918|supp=y}}</ref> in addition to the French [[Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (France)|Croix de guerre]] in November 1918.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=13350|page=4174|date=12 November 1918|city=e}}</ref>

==Between the wars==
Following the end of the war, Irwin was promoted to the [[Brevet (military)|brevet rank]] of major on 3 June 1919.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31370|page=6815|date=30 May 1919}}</ref> He later attended the [[Staff College, Camberley]] as a student from 1924 to 1925, his fellow students including [[Alfred Reade Godwin-Austen|Reade Godwin-Austen]], [[Ivor Thomas (British Army officer)|Ivor Thomas]], [[Douglas Graham (British Army officer)|Douglas Graham]], [[Noel Beresford-Peirse]], [[Humfrey Gale]], [[Archibald Nye]] and [[Willoughby Norrie, 1st Baron Norrie|Willoughby Norrie]], [[Daril Watson]], [[Vyvyan Pope]], [[Thomas Riddell-Webster]] and [[Otto Marling Lund|Otto Lund]]. Following this, he served on the staff of the [[British Army of the Rhine]]. Between 1920 and 1932, he served in regimental and depot duties and transferred to the [[Border Regiment]] in 1927.

In 1933, he was appointed as Chief Instructor at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst serving for three years.<ref name=lh/> In 1937, he served briefly as General Staff Officer, Grade 1 (GSO1) for British troops stationed in China.<ref name=lh/>

==Second World War==
At the start of the [[Second World War]] in September 1939, Irwin, promoted to temporary [[Brigadier (United Kingdom)|brigadier]] on 15 March 1939,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34617|page=2588|date=18 April 1939}}</ref> headed the [[6th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|6th Infantry Brigade]],<ref name=lh/> part of the [[2nd Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|2nd Division]]. On 20 May 1940, he was promoted to acting major-general<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34875|page=3685|date=14 June 1940|supp=y}}</ref> and took command of the division during the retreat to Dunkirk in the [[Battle of France]].<ref name=lh/>

Following the [[Dunkirk evacuation]] in May 1940, Irwin was made a [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]] on 11 July 1940.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34893|page=4244|date=9 July 1940|supp=y}}</ref> From 28 October he commanded the [[38th (Welsh) Infantry Division]] in Britain. His rank of major-general was made permanent on 29 March 1941 (with seniority backdated to 22 November 1940).<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=35157|page=2648|date=6 May 1941|supp=y}}</ref> On 7 November 1941 Irwin, promoted to the acting rank of lieutenant-general,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=35345|page=6563|date=11 November 1941}}</ref> commanded the [[XI Corps (United Kingdom)|XI Corps]], which was based in [[East Anglia]] and had substantial responsibilities for the defence of Britain in the event of a German invasion.

He was transferred to the Middle East in 1942, to command of the [[IV Corps (United Kingdom)|IV Corps]] in Iraq.<ref name=lh/> The Corps HQ was subsequently transferred to India after the [[Japanese conquest of Burma]]. Irwin became General Officer Commanding-in-Chief [[Eastern Command (India)|Eastern Army, India]] in July 1942. Eastern Army had wide responsibilities for defending eastern frontier of India against the Japanese, and maintaining security in large areas of India.<ref name=lh/> His rank of lieutenant-general was made temporary on 23 November 1942.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=35800|page=5143|date=24 November 1942|supp=y}}</ref>

For the minor attack in [[Burma Campaign 1942-1943#First Arakan campaign|Arakan]] late in 1942, Irwin and Eastern Army HQ bypassed [[XV Corps (India)|XV Corps]] HQ after disagreements with the local commander, [[Bill Slim]], and took command of the operation.<ref name=lh/> The attack failed, with severe effects on Allied morale and prestige. On 6 April 1943, Irwin gave a press conference in which he criticised the equipment, training and motivation of the Allied armies in India.<ref>Christoper Bayly and Tim Harper, ''Forgotten Armies'', Penguin Books (2005), {{ISBN|0-14-029331-0}}, pp.274–275</ref> Although his observations were admitted to be largely correct, Irwin's refusal to admit that any blame attached to himself and his staff was resented. He was relieved of his appointment and returned to Britain on sick leave.

In 1944, he was appointed the General Officer Commanding East Scotland District in his substantive rank of major general (a significant step-down from his previous three jobs),<ref name="Mead222">Mead, p. 222.</ref> and remained in this post until the end of the war. After three years as Commander-in-Chief of British forces of the [[West Africa Command]],<ref name=lh/> during which time he was promoted to the permanent rank of lieutenant general, he retired to private life in 1948.<ref name=lh/>

==Honours and awards==
During his military career, Irwin was made a [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]], was awarded the [[Military Cross]] and the [[Distinguished Service Order]] with two [[Medal bar|Bars]]. He was [[Mentioned in Despatches]] four times but significantly, he never received the [[knighthood]] which would normally be expected to accrue to an officer of substantive lieutenant general rank.<ref name="Mead222"/>

* [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]] (11 July 1940)
* [[Distinguished Service Order]] (1 January 1918, 24 September 1918 For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. When the whole of his battalion front was heavily attacked and all communications with his forward companies were cut, this officer personally organised his headquarters and stragglers, and formed a defensive flank so as to obtain touch with the brigade on the right. This flank he held for eight hours against all attacks, organising two counter-attacks against the enemy during this period, thus averting a critical situation. It was greatly due to his able conduct that the holding of their battle position by his brigade was possible throughout the day. His courage, energy and quick decision inspired the greatest confidence in his men, 1919)
* [[Military Cross]] (3 July 1915: On 2 May 1915, east of Ypres, when in reserve trenches with his company, seeing that the men in the front trenches were overcome by gas and were retiring, with great initiative and courage and under heavy fire, he at once advanced with his company and seized the front trenches before the Germans could occupy them, and drove back the enemy's attack. On 13 May in the counter-attack he handled his company with great skill and determination.)
* [[Mention in Despatches]] (1 January 1916, 22 May 1917, 21 December 1917, 28 December 1918
* [[Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (France)|Croix de guerre]] (France)

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
*Latimer, Jon, ''Burma: The Forgotten War'', London: John Murray, 2004. {{ISBN|978-0-7195-6576-2}}
*Liddell Hart, Basil, and Constance Kritzberg, Henry, ''A History of the Second World War''. New York: Putnam, 1971. {{ISBN|0-306-80912-5}}
*Malkasian, Carter. ''A History of Modern Wars of Attrition''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2002. {{ISBN|0-275-97379-4}}
*{{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==
* [http://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_I01.html#Irwin_NMS British Army Officers 1939–1945]
* [http://www.generals.dk/general/Irwin/Noel_Mackintosh_Stuart/Great_Britain.html Generals of World War II]

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Charles Loyd]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[2nd Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|GOC 2nd Infantry Division]]|years=May–August 1940}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Daril Watson]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Aubrey Williams (British Army officer)|Aubrey Williams]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[38th (Welsh) Infantry Division|GOC 38th (Welsh) Infantry Division]]|years=1940–1941}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Arthur Dowler]]}}
|-
{{S-bef|before=[[Hugh Massy (British Army officer)|Hugh Massy]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[XI Corps (United Kingdom)|GOC XI Corps]]|years=1941–1942}}
{{S-aft|after=[[John Crocker]]}}
|-
{{S-bef|before=[[Thomas Corbett (Indian Army officer)|Thomas Corbett]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[IV Corps (United Kingdom)|GOC IV Corps]]|years=April–July 1942}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Geoffry Scoones]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Charles Broad (British Army officer)|Sir Charles Broad]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Eastern Command (India)|GOC-in-C Eastern Army, India]]|years=1942–1943}}
{{s-aft|after=[[George Giffard|Sir George Giffard]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Montagu Brocas Burrows|Brocas Burrows]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[West Africa Command|GOC West Africa Command]]|years=1946–1948}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Cameron Nicholson|Sir Cameron Nicholson]]}}
{{end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irwin, Noel}}
[[Category:1892 births]]
[[Category:1982 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Royal College of Defence Studies]]
[[Category:Border Regiment officers]]
[[Category:British Army generals of World War II]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:Essex Regiment officers]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley]]
[[Category:People educated at Marlborough College]]
[[Category:People from Motihari]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Military Cross]]

Noel Irwin - Revision history

Aksdw: minor cleanup references per sources further and fixed typos

Bot: robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

>Dawnseeker2000: date format audit, link maintenance