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← Older revision		Revision as of 03:20, 30 November 2022
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	{{Short description\|Welsh officer in the Indian army during World Wars 1 & 2}}		{{Short description\|Welsh officer in the Indian army during World Wars 1 & 2}}
	{{EngvarB\|date=March ~~2022~~}}		{{EngvarB\|date=March 2014}}
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	{{Infobox military person		{{Infobox military person
	\|name= Thomas Rees		\|name= Thomas Rees
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	==Post-war==		==Post-war==
	From 1945 to 1947 Rees commanded the [[4th Infantry Division (India)\|Indian 4th Infantry Division]] and from August to September 1947, he commanded the neutral Punjab Boundary Force tasked to maintain law and order in the Punjab which was to be divided during the transfer of power to India and Pakistan. The force was too small to control such a large area, particularly since the police forces either disintegrated or became polarised. Despite the Boundary Force's best efforts full-scale riots and massacres took place. The scrupulous neutrality shown by Rees's force brought serious criticism from the politicians of both sides and it was disbanded in early September 1947, two weeks after [[Independence Day (India)\|independence]].{{sfn\|Mead\|2007\|p=374−375}} Rees has also been criticised for refusing to heed the advice of "Military Advisors" and "Alternate Military Advisors" from the Indian and Pakistani sides on the grounds that they were junior to him.<ref name=Timmy>{{cite book \|title=Thimayya: an amazing life \|last=Khanduri \|first=Chandra B. \|year=2006 \|publisher=Knowledge World \|location=New Delhi \|isbn=978-81-87966-36-4 \|pages=394 \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZWXfAAAAMAAJ \|access-date=30 July ~~2022~~}}</ref>{{rp\|106–107}}		From 1945 to 1947 Rees commanded the [[4th Infantry Division (India)\|Indian 4th Infantry Division]] and from August to September 1947, he commanded the neutral Punjab Boundary Force tasked to maintain law and order in the Punjab which was to be divided during the transfer of power to India and Pakistan. The force was too small to control such a large area, particularly since the police forces either disintegrated or became polarised. Despite the Boundary Force's best efforts full-scale riots and massacres took place. The scrupulous neutrality shown by Rees's force brought serious criticism from the politicians of both sides and it was disbanded in early September 1947, two weeks after [[Independence Day (India)\|independence]].{{sfn\|Mead\|2007\|p=374−375}} Rees has also been criticised for refusing to heed the advice of "Military Advisors" and "Alternate Military Advisors" from the Indian and Pakistani sides on the grounds that they were junior to him.<ref name=Timmy>{{cite book \|title=Thimayya: an amazing life \|last=Khanduri \|first=Chandra B. \|year=2006 \|publisher=Knowledge World \|location=New Delhi \|isbn=978-81-87966-36-4 \|pages=394 \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZWXfAAAAMAAJ \|access-date=30 July 2010}}</ref>{{rp\|106–107}}

	Promoted to the permanent rank of major-general in 1947,<ref>{{London Gazette\| issue=38134\| date=25 November 1947\|page=5636\| supp=y}}</ref> Rees took the job as head of the Military Committee of the Indian Emergency Cabinet until he retired from the army in 1948.{{sfn\|Mead\|2007\|p=375}}		Promoted to the permanent rank of major-general in 1947,<ref>{{London Gazette\| issue=38134\| date=25 November 1947\|page=5636\| supp=y}}</ref> Rees took the job as head of the Military Committee of the Indian Emergency Cabinet until he retired from the army in 1948.{{sfn\|Mead\|2007\|p=375}}

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{{Short description|Welsh officer in the Indian army during World Wars 1 & 2}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Thomas Rees
|image= The War in the Far East- the Burma Campaign 1941-1945 SE3257.jpg
|image_size=
|alt=
|caption=
|nickname= "Pete" "Napoleon"{{sfn|Smart|2005|p=264}}{{sfn|Mead|2007|p=372}}
|birth_date= {{birth date|1898|01|12|df=yes}}
|birth_place= [[Cardiff]], Wales
|death_date= {{death date and age|1959|10|15|1898|01|12|df=yes}}
|death_place=
|placeofburial=
|allegiance= United Kingdom
|branch= [[British Indian Army]]
|serviceyears= 1915–1948
|rank= [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major General]]
|servicenumber= 37923
|unit= [[73rd Carnatic Infantry]] [[125th Napier's Rifles]] [[6th Rajputana Rifles]]
|commands= Punjab Boundary Force (1947) [[4th Infantry Division (India)|4th Indian Infantry Division]] (1945–47) {{nowrap|[[19th Infantry Division (India)|19th Indian Infantry Division]] (1942–45)}} [[10th Indian Infantry Division]] (1942) [[10th Indian Infantry Brigade]] (1941–42) 3rd Battalion, [[6th Rajputana Rifles]] (1938–39)
|battles= [[First World War]] [[North-West Frontier Province (1901–1955)|North West Frontier]] [[Second World War]]
|awards= [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]]<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=37161 |date=3 July 1945 |page=3491 |supp=y }}</ref> [[Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire]]<ref name="CIEref">{{London Gazette |issue=33675 |date=30 December 1930 |page=7 |supp=y }}</ref> [[Distinguished Service Order]]<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=31183 |date=14 February 1919 |page=2365|supp=y }}</ref> & [[Medal bar|Bar]]<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=35209 |date=4 July 1941 |page=3883 |supp=y }}</ref> [[Military Cross]]<ref name="MCref">{{London Gazette| issue=30915| date=24 September 1918| supp=y|page=11306}}</ref> [[Mentioned in Despatches]] (6)<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=35396 |date=26 December 1941 |page=7354 |supp=y }}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=36065 |date=22 June 1943 |page=2863|supp=y }}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette| issue=37558| date=7 May 1946|page=2218| supp=y}}</ref>
|relations=
|laterwork= Honorary Colonel Welch Regiment<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=39347 |date=28 September 1951 |page=5115|supp=y }}</ref> Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=40391 |date=25 January 1955 |page=512}}</ref>
}}
[[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major General]] '''Thomas Wynford Rees''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|CB|CIE|DSO1|MC|DL}} (12 January 1898 – 15 October 1959) was an Welsh officer in the [[British Indian Army]] during the [[First World War]], the [[Interwar period|interwar years]] and the [[Second World War]]

==Early life and military career==
The son of the Reverend T. M. Rees, he passed out from the [[Quetta cadet college|Officer Cadet College, Quetta]] and was commissioned into the [[British Indian Army]] in November 1915 in the [[73rd Carnatic Infantry]].<ref name="ComGaz">{{London Gazette |issue=29483 |date=22 February 1916 |pages=1960–1961 }}</ref><ref name="OxfordDNB">{{citation |title=Rees, Thomas Wynford (1898–1959) |author=Jeffreys, Alan |date=September 2011 |work=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref>

In September 1916, Rees was transferred to the [[125th Napier's Rifles]] and was promoted to lieutenant a month later.<ref name="OxfordDNB" /><ref>{{London Gazette| issue=30267| date=4 September 1917|page=9153}}</ref>

During the [[First World War]], Rees was awarded the [[Distinguished Service Order]] (DSO) and [[Military Cross]] (MC) and was [[mentioned in despatches]]. The citation for his DSO, published in the ''[[London Gazette]]'' on 29 July 1919, reads:
{{quote|For conspicuous gallantry throughout the day on September 19th, 1918, during the attack on the Turkish position about Tabsor, and especially after passing through the last objective into open country. Collecting various details of four different units up to a total of about 80 men, he organised them into parties, charged in face of strong opposition, and took two trenches, capturing about 50 prisoners and two field guns. Subsequently, when mounted on a captured pony, he saw a third field gun escaping, whereupon he galloped after it and, single-handed, captured the gun and team complete. He set a magnificent example to all units by his initiative and utter disregard of danger.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=31480 |date=29 July 1919 |page=9682 |supp=y }}</ref>}}

The citation for his MC, published in the ''London Gazette'' on 24 September 1918, reads:
{{quote|For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in charge of a patrol. He pushed on with half his patrol, and charged a line of enemy rifle-pits in face of considerable bombing, springing into a rifle-pit himself and shooting one of the enemy, after which he pursued the remainder for a short time with his patrol.<ref name="MCref" />}}

==Between the wars==
Between the world wars Rees spent much of his time serving on the [[North-West Frontier Province (1901–1955)|North West Frontier]] of India, being mentioned in despatches three more times. He served a term as private secretary to the Governor of Burma, [[Charles Alexander Innes|Sir Charles Alexander Innes]] for which he was appointed a [[Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire]] (CIE) in the 1931 New Years honours list.<ref name="CIEref" /> In December 1937 was made brevet lieutenant colonel for "distinguished services rendered in the field in connection with the operations in Waziristan, during the period 25th November, 1936, to i6th January, 1937".<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=34462| date=10 December 1937|page=7737}}</ref>

==Second World War==
During the [[Second World War]], Rees fought in the [[East African campaign (World War II)|East African campaign]], the [[North African campaign]], and the [[Burma campaign]]. He was awarded a [[Medal bar|Bar]] to his DSO and mentioned in despatches twice.

As head staff officer of the [[4th Infantry Division (India)|4th Indian Infantry Division]] (GSO1), Rees organised the division's highly successful action during [[Operation Compass]] in the [[Western Desert (North Africa)|Western Desert]] in 1940.{{sfn|Mead|2007|p=372}} The division then played a key role in defeating the Italian imperial forces in [[Eritrea]] during the [[East African Campaign (World War II)|East African Campaign]] during which time he was promoted to command Indian 10th Infantry brigade, part of [[5th Infantry Division (India)|Indian 5th Infantry Division]] which was fighting alongside 4th Indian Division. 10th Brigade played a leading role in the [[Battle of Keren]], the decisive battle of the campaign.{{sfn|Mead|2007|p=373}}

[[File:The British Army in Burma 1945 SE3530.jpg|thumb|left|Lieutenant General [[William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim|Sir William Slim]] and Major General T. W. Rees are cheered by troops as they leave Mandalay in a jeep, March 1945.]]

The 5th Indian Division left East Africa in March 1941 spending periods in Iraq, Egypt and Cyprus. In March 1942, Rees was promoted acting major general<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=35550| date=5 May 1942|page=2021| supp=y}}</ref> to command [[10th Indian Infantry Division]], which was at the time in Iraq. Two months later the division was sent to the Western Desert to reinforce the [[Eighth Army (United Kingdom)|Eighth Army]].{{sfn|Mead|2007|p=373}}

[[File:The British Army in Burma 1945 SE3465.jpg|thumb|right|Major General T. W. Rees (on the left) talking with Lieutenant General [[Oliver Leese|Sir Oliver Leese]], 19 March 1945, wearing a red scarf.]]

Controversially, during the [[Eighth Army (United Kingdom)|Eighth Army's]] retreat from the [[Battle of Gazala]], Rees was relieved of command of the division by his corps commander Lieutenant General [[William Gott]]. The division, having been employed piecemeal during the battle, was ordered to consolidate near Mersa Matruh on the Egyptian border and hold off the Axis advance for 72 hours. Rees responded that the division had only just come together and that defensive works were still inadequate. He therefore doubted the division's ability to hold off a full-scale attack despite the addition of an extra brigade (2nd Free French Brigade). Gott told Rees he lacked resolution for the job and sacked him. General [[Claude Auchinleck]], the C-in-C, doubting that Rees was irresolute (but obliged to support his senior commander) gave Rees the job of organising the defence of Cairo in case of an Axis breakthrough. Shortly thereafter Rees's fears were confirmed when the 10th Indian Division's position was overrun.{{sfn|Mead|2007|p=373}} When the Axis threat to Cairo faded, Rees was sent back to India.

In the autumn of 1942 Rees was appointed to command [[19th Infantry Division (India)|Indian 19th Infantry Division]]. Although the division was not sent to the front line in Burma until November 1944, from this date until the end of the war it was in continuous action, gaining a formidable reputation for itself and Rees, who was seen as one of the army's most offensively-minded generals.{{sfn|Mead|2007|p=372}} His army commander, General [[William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim|Sir William Slim]], was later to write:{{quote|[19th Indian Division was] literally led by their dynamic commander, Pete Rees, known to his British troops as the 'Pocket Napoleon'… What he lacked in inches he made up by the miles he advanced...he was an inspiring divisional commander. The only criticism I made was to point out that the best huntsmen did not invariably ride ahead of their hounds.{{sfn|Slim|1972|p=390}}}}

==Post-war==
From 1945 to 1947 Rees commanded the [[4th Infantry Division (India)|Indian 4th Infantry Division]] and from August to September 1947, he commanded the neutral Punjab Boundary Force tasked to maintain law and order in the Punjab which was to be divided during the transfer of power to India and Pakistan. The force was too small to control such a large area, particularly since the police forces either disintegrated or became polarised. Despite the Boundary Force's best efforts full-scale riots and massacres took place. The scrupulous neutrality shown by Rees's force brought serious criticism from the politicians of both sides and it was disbanded in early September 1947, two weeks after [[Independence Day (India)|independence]].{{sfn|Mead|2007|p=374−375}} Rees has also been criticised for refusing to heed the advice of "Military Advisors" and "Alternate Military Advisors" from the Indian and Pakistani sides on the grounds that they were junior to him.<ref name=Timmy>{{cite book |title=Thimayya: an amazing life |last=Khanduri |first=Chandra B. |year=2006 |publisher=Knowledge World |location=New Delhi |isbn=978-81-87966-36-4 |pages=394 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZWXfAAAAMAAJ |access-date=30 July 2022}}</ref>{{rp|106–107}}

Promoted to the permanent rank of major-general in 1947,<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=38134| date=25 November 1947|page=5636| supp=y}}</ref> Rees took the job as head of the Military Committee of the Indian Emergency Cabinet until he retired from the army in 1948.{{sfn|Mead|2007|p=375}}

Rees was appointed a [[Deputy Lieutenant]] for [[Monmouthshire (historic)|Monmouthshire]] on 15 January 1955.

==Personal life==
Rees was married in 1926 to [http://www.thepeerage.com/p64558.htm#i645578 Agatha Rosalie Innes], only daughter of [[Charles Alexander Innes|Sir Charles Alexander Innes]], a career India Civil Service officer and Governor of Burma from 1927 to 1932. They had one son, the Cabinet minister [[Peter Rees, Baron Rees|Peter Wyford Innes Rees]] (later Lord Rees), and one daughter.

[[John Masters]] noted in one of his autobiographies ([[The Road Past Mandalay]]) that Pete Rees was an [[abstinent]] (he "spoke softly, never swore, never drank, did not smoke." but also, "always wore a small kind smile"). According to Masters, Rees was a [[polyglot]] and spoke English, Welsh, "...Urdu, Marathi, Pushtu, Burmese, and Tamil. Now he asked me to teach him Gurkhali, and soon he knew enough to cause a look of startled pleasure to cross many a stolid Gurung face." Masters also said of Rees that he had a "rare, personal gentleness and unfailing good manners".{{sfn|Masters|1961|p=285−288}}

==Military career==
* Passed out from Officer Cadet College, Quetta and commissioned 2nd lieutenant into the Indian Army unattached list (1915)<ref name="ComGaz" />
* Attached to [[73rd Carnatic Infantry]] (1915)<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=29588 |date=19 May 1916 |page=4985}}</ref>
* Attached to [[125th Napier's Rifles]] (later 5th (Napier's) battalion [[Rajputana Rifles|6th Rajputana Rifles]])
* Awarded DSO while in Egypt – (1919)
* Staff Captain in Wazir Force, [[Waziristan]] – (1922–1925)<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=32806 |date=16 March 1922 |page=2078 }}</ref>
* Staff Officer (Intelligence) (GSO3), India – (1925–1926)<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33087 |date=25 September 1925 |page=6207}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33214 |date=22 October 1926 |page=6755 }}</ref>
* Instructor, [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst]] – (1926–1928)<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33200 |date=10 September 1926 |page=5910 }}</ref>
* Private Secretary to Governor of [[Burma]] – (1928–1930)<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33626 |date=18 July 1930 |page=4503}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33964 |date=28 July 1933 |page=5049}}</ref>
* Attended [[Staff College, Camberley]] (1931–1932)
*Promoted to major (November 1933)<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34007 |date=22 December 1933 |page=8319}}</ref>
* Staff Officer (GSO3), India – (1934)<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34112 |date=7 December 1934 |page=7929}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34140 |date=8 March 1935 |page=1636}}</ref>
* Waziristan, North West Frontier, [[India]] – (1935–1937)
* Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General, India – (1936–1937)<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34264 |date=13 March 1936 |page=1661}}</ref><ref name="DAQMGGaz">{{London Gazette |issue=34385 |date=23 December 1938 |page=8184}}</ref>
* Appointed [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] lieutenant-colonel for "distinguished services in the field ...in Waziristan during the period 25 November 1936 and 16 January 1937" – (1937))<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34462 |date=10 December 1937 |page=7737}}</ref>
* General Staff Officer Grade 2, [[Waziristan]] District, North West Frontier, [[India]] – (1937–1938)<ref name="DAQMGGaz" /><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34582 |date=23 December 1938 |page=8184}}</ref>
* Commanding Officer, 3rd Battalion, [[Rajputana Rifles|6th Rajputana Rifles]], [[India]] – (1938–1939)
* General Staff Officer 1, [[Indian 4th Infantry Division]], North Africa and [[Sudan]] – (1940–1941)
* Commanding Officer, 10th Indian Brigade, Sudan – (1941–1942)
* General Officer Commanding, [[Indian 10th Infantry Division]], Middle East – North Africa – (1942)
* General Officer Commanding, [[Indian 19th Infantry Division]], [[Burma]] – (1942–1945)
* Permanent rank advanced to Colonel.<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=36112| date=27 July 1943|page=3427| supp=y}}</ref>
* General Officer Commanding, [[Indian 4th Infantry Division]] – (1945–1947)
* General Officer Commanding, Punjab Boundary Force, [[India]] – (1947)
* Head Military Emergency Staff to Emergency Committee of Cabinet, India – (1947)
* Retired – (1948)

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

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9JKckL1mwoEC&q=%22125th+Napier's%22&pg=PA47 |title=The British Army in the Far East 1941–45, p. 47|access-date=4 August 2008 |last=Jeffreys |first=Alan|author2=Anderson, Duncan | publisher=Osprey| year=2005| location=Oxford| isbn=1-84176-790-5}}
*{{cite book | first=Compton|last=Mackenzie |author-link=Compton Mackenzie| title=Eastern Epic| publisher=Chatto & Windus| location=London | year=1951 | oclc=1412578}}
* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pj04AAAAIAAJ&q=the+road+past+mandalay|last=Masters|first=John|title=The Road Past Mandalay|year=1961}}
*{{cite book| first=Richard| last=Mead| title=Churchill's Lions: A Biographical Guide to the Key British Generals of World War II| location=Stroud| publisher=Spellmount| year=2007|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}}
*{{cite book|last=Slim| first=Field Marshal Viscount| author-link=William Slim| title=Defeat into Victory|publisher=Cassell| location=London| isbn=0-304-29114-5| year=1972| orig-year=1956}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Thomas Wynford Rees}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930115927/http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,797328,00.html "Burma Turnabout" from Time Magazine, 1945]
*[http://www.unithistories.com/officers/IndianArmy_officers_R01.html#Rees_TW Indian Army Officers 1939–1945]
*[http://www.generals.dk/general/Rees/Thomas_Wynford/Great_Britain.html Generals of World War II]

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=[[William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim|William Slim]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[10th Indian Infantry Division|GOC 10th Indian Infantry Division]]|years=March–June 1942}}
{{s-aft|after=[[John Nichols (British Army officer)|John Nichols]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Douglas Stuart (Indian Army officer)|Douglas Stuart]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[19th Infantry Division (India)|GOC 19th Indian Infantry Division]]|years=1942–1945}}
{{s-non|reason=Post disbanded}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Charles Hamilton Boucher|Charles Boucher]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[4th Infantry Division (India)|GOC 4th Indian Infantry Division]]|years=1945–1947}}
{{s-non|reason=Post disbanded}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, Thomas Wynford}}
[[Category:1898 births]]
[[Category:1959 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian Army generals of World War II]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Military Cross]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:Deputy Lieutenants of Monmouthshire]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Cardiff]]
[[Category:Academics of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]
[[Category:British Indian Army generals]]

Thomas Wynford Rees - Revision history

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