Archibald Nye
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| Sir Archibald Edward Nye | |
|---|---|
| 23 April 1895 – 13 November 1967 | |
 Lt. Gen. Sir Archibald Nye |
|
| Place of birth | Ship St Barracks, Dublin |
| Place of death | London |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/branch | British Army |
| Years of service | 1914 - 1945 |
| Rank | Lieutenant-General |
| Commands held | Nowshera Brigade (1939 - 1940) Vice Chief of the Imperial General Staff (1941 - 1945) |
| Battles/wars | World War I World War II |
| Awards | GCSI(1947) GCMG (1951) GCIE(1946) KCB (1946) KBE (1944) CB (1942) MC (1919) |
| Other work | Governor of Madras 1946 - 1947 UK High Commissioner to India 1948 - 1952 UK High Commissioner to Canada 1952 - 1956 |
Lieutenant-General Sir Archibald Edward Nye, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, KCB, KBE, MC (23 April 1895 - 13 December 1967) was a British Army officer who served in both World War I and World War II. In the latter he served as Vice Chief of the Imperial General Staff.
After World War II he served as Governor of Madras - after which appointment Nehru asked for him to stay on as High Commissioner in India.[1] He subsequently served as High Commissioner to Canada.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Archibald Edward Nye was born on April 23, 1895 at Shipstreet Barracks, Dublin, to Charles Edward Nye and Mary Sexton. He was the second of three sons born to the couple who also had three daughters. Charles Edward Nye was a regimental sergeant major in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.
Nye was educated at the Duke of York's Royal Military School after the death of his father and desired to become a schoolmaster. But the First World War broke out at this juncture and Nye joined the army.
[edit] Army service
Nye went to France with the British Expeditionary Force in 1914 serving as an NCO. In 1915, he was selected for a commission in the Prince of Wales' Leinster Regiment. Nye was wounded twice in action during the First World War. He was awarded the Military Cross for bravery.[2] The official citation for this ward reads:
For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty on 20th October, 1918 near Esscher. He made a reconnaissance, under heavy shell and machine-gun fire, of the forward positions along the whole battalion front adjusting a portion on his own initiative to complete the line. He was of great assistance to his commanding officer throughout the week's fighting.[3].
When the Leinster Regiment was disbanded, Nye was transferred to the Royal Warwickshire Regiment with a regular commission. Between the world wars he had a number of regimental appointments and attended the staff officer's course at Staff College, Camberley in 1924-25 which he successfully completed. In 1932, he completed his graduation in law and qualified as a barrister at the Inner Temple. From late 1937 to 1939 he commanded the 2nd battalion of his regiment, by this time renamed the Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers.
In 1939 he was sent to India to raise a brigade and commanded the Nowshera Brigade from May 1939 to January 1940. In February 1940 he returned to London to take up the post of Deputy Director of Staff Duties, War Office and became Director of Staff Duties and an acting major-general that October. In December 1941, he became Vice Chief of the Imperial General Staff and an acting lieutenant-general (the rank of major-general had been permanent in November 1941). His most important function in this role was to represent the CIGS, Alan Brooke, when he was unable to attend one of the many committees on which he sat such as the Chiefs of Staff Committee, the Defence Committee (Operations), the War Cabinet and the Army Council. The enormous burdens placed on Brooke meant that he needed to delegate many of his tasks and for this he relied heavily on Nye. The partnership was highly successful and Nye remained in the job for the rest of the war.[4] It could be said that while Brooke ran the war, Nye ran the army.[5] His rank of lieutenant-general was made substantive in September 1944.
[edit] Governor of Madras
Nye was appointed Governor of Madras on February 26, 1946[6] and took charge on May 5, 1946[7] and served as Governor till September 7, 1948.[8] The day prior to his appointment as Governor there was a major labour strike in Madras.[6] The rest of his term was plagued by peasant uprisings all over the province.[9] These rebellions were aided and abetted by the Communists who established miniature governments along the northern frontiers of the Presidency thereby demanding military action.[9] Nye attributed their success to the "zeal and energy of young men who conducted their own newspapers and who preached the creed of expropriating landlords and distributing their land to needy and hungry labourers".[9] Nye was also the Colonel-in-chief of the Madras Regiment from August 10, 1946 to March 31, 1949.[10] The Recruits Training Centre was moved from Madukkarai near Coimbatore to Wellington in February 1947.[10] Nye inaugurated the Madras offices of the British Council in July-August 1948.[11] In November 1947, when Sir Frederick Gentle, the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court resigned over the Government of India order that the Chief Minister of the particular state should be consulted along with the Union Home Minister with regard to the selection of High Court judges, Nye expressed support for Gentle against political interference in appointment of judges.[12]
Nye was strongly critical of Britain's efforts to admit India into the British Commonwealth.[13] He felt that from the defence point of view, Indian would be "an ailing child who has literally, nothing, whatever to offer but who, on the other hand, constitutes a grave liability".[13]
Nye was honoured with the GCIE in 1946 and the GCSI in 1947.
[edit] Family
In 1939, Nye married divorcee Una Sheila Colleen, daughter of Sir Harry Hugh Sidney Knox. The couple had one daughter.
[edit] Character
Nye was a keen billiards player and teetotaller.
[edit] Styles
- 1895-1914: Archibald Edward Nye
- 1914-1915: Sergeant Archibald Edward Nye
- 1915-1917: Sergeant (Temp.Second Lieutenant) Archibald Edward Nye
- 1917-1918: Second-Lieutenant (Temp. Lieutenant) Archibald Edward Nye
- 1918-1919: Lieutenant Archibald Edward Nye
- 1919-1924: Lieutenant Archibald Edward Nye, MC
- 1924-1935: Captain Archibald Edward Nye, MC
- 1935-1937: Major Archibald Edward Nye, MC
- 1937-1938: Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Edward Nye, MC
- 1938-1940: Colonel (Temp. Brigadier) Archibald Edward Nye, MC
- 1940-1941: Colonel (Actg. Major-General; Temp. Brigadier) Archibald Edward Nye, MC
- 1941-1942: Major-General (Actg. Lieutenant-General) Archibald Edward Nye, MC
- 1942-1943: Major-General (Actg. Lieutenant-General) Archibald Edward Nye, CB, MC
- 1943-1944: Major-General (Temp. Lieutenant-General) Archibald Edward Nye, CB, MC
- 1944-1945: Lieutenant-General Sir Archibald Edward Nye, KBE, CB, MC
- 1945-1946: Lieutenant-General Sir Archibald Edward Nye, KBE, CB, MC
- 1946-1947: His Excellency Lieutenant-General Sir Archibald Edward Nye, GCIE, KCB, KBE, MC
- 1947: His Excellency Lieutenant-General Sir Archibald Edward Nye, GCSI, GCIE, KCB, KBE, MC
- 1948-1951: Lieutenant-General Sir Archibald Edward Nye, GCSI, GCIE, KCB, KBE, MC
- 1951-1967: Lieutenant-General Sir Archibald Edward Nye, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, KCB, KBE, MC
[edit] Notes
- ^ Alanbrooke (2001), p. xli.
- ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 31266, p. 4331, 1919-04-01. Retrieved on 2009-09-20.
- ^ London Gazette
- ^ Mead, p. 330.
- ^ Mead, p. 328.
- ^ a b Saroja Sundarrajan (1989). March to freedom in Madras Presidency, 1916-1947. Lalitha Publications. p. 632.
- ^ "Provinces of British India - Madras". worldstatesmen. http://www.worldstatesmen.org/India_BrProvinces.htm#Madras.
- ^ "Indian States since 1947 - Tamil Nadu". worldstatesmen. http://www.worldstatesmen.org/India_states.html#Tamil-Nadu.
- ^ a b c Sir Francis Low (1972). Struggle for Asia. p. 96.
- ^ a b "Madras Regiment". Indian Army. http://indianarmy.nic.in/infantry/inf_mds.html.
- ^ S. Muthiah (March 21, 2005). "Recalling the beginnings". The Hindu. http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mp/2005/03/21/stories/2005032100130300.htm.
- ^ Dr. Rajendra Prasad, correspondence and select documents, Volume 8. Allied Publishers. 1984. pp. 293. ISBN 8170230020, ISBN 9788170230021.
- ^ a b Partition of India and Mountbatten. Atlantic Publisher and Distributors. p. 81.
[edit] References
- Alanbrooke, Field Marshal Lord (edited by Alex Danchev and Daniel Todman) (2001). War Diaries 1939-1945. Phoenix Press. ISBN 1-84212-526-5.
- Mead, Richard (2007). Churchill's Lions: A biographical guide to the key British generals of World War II. Stroud (UK): Spellmount. ISBN 978-1-86227-431-0.
[edit] External links
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Henry Knight (pro tempore) |
Governor of Madras Presidency 1946–1948 |
Succeeded by Maharaja Krishna Bhavasingh |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| New title | High Commissioner to India 1948–1952 |
Succeeded by Malcolm MacDonald |
| Preceded by Alexander Clutterbuck |
High Commissioner to Canada 1952–1956 |
Succeeded by Saville Garner |
