David Egerton (British Army officer)

Not to be confused with David Egerton.

Sir David Egerton, Bt
Born	(1914-07-24)24 July 1914 Grimsby, Lincolnshire
Died	17 November 2010(2010-11-17) (aged 96)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	British Army
Years of service	1933–70
Rank	Major General
Battles / wars	Second World War Battle of France Battle of Alam Halfa First Battle of El Alamein Second Battle of El Alamein Italian Campaign
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath Officer of the Order of the British Empire Military Cross

Egerton memorial tablets in Chester Cathedral: (top) a memorial to family members killed during the First World War and (below) a memorial to Vice Admiral Wion Egerton

Major General Sir David Boswell Egerton, 16th Baronet, CB, OBE, MC (24 July 1914 – 17 November 2010) was a British Army officer from the aristocratic Egerton family.

Family

Egerton's immediate family was a cadet branch of the ancient and noble Egerton family seated at Oulton since the Middle Ages. His father, Wion de Malpas Egerton, was born in the Punjab in 1879 and joined the Royal Navy, receiving the Distinguished Service Order in 1917 and later being appointed vice admiral. Admiral Egerton died in 1943 whilst his mother Anita, only daughter of Major Albert Rudolph David, died in 1972. His grandfather, uncle of Sir Philip Grey-Egerton, 14th Baronet, was Field Marshal Sir Charles Egerton, formerly an Indian Army officer.

Career

Egerton was commissioned in the Royal Artillery and served with distinction in the Second World War. A career soldier, he was Director-General of Artillery in the Ministry of Defence (1964–67), Vice-President and Senior Army Member Ordnance Board (1967–69), President (1969–70) and Colonel Commandant of the Royal Artillery until 1975. After being promoted to the rank of major general he retired from the British Army and was appointed Secretary-General of the Association of Recognised English Language Services (1971–79).

Personal life

On 10 April 1946, Egerton married Margaret Gillian (died 24 August 2004), youngest daughter of the Revd Canon Charles Cuthbert Inge, Rector of Streatley, Berkshire.

In 2008 Egerton succeeded his second cousin, Sir John Grey-Egerton, 15th Baronet, in the family title. Having been known for many years as "Major General Egerton", he chose not to assume the style of "Sir David Egerton".

Egerton and his wife had three children; William (now Sir William Egerton Bt, born 1949), who succeeded his father in the baronetcy upon the latter's death in 2010, and two daughters, Charlotte now Dixon (born 1950) and Caroline now White (born 1955).

External links

• Egerton heraldry