Merton Beckwith-Smith
Merton Beckwith-Smith | |
|---|---|
 Major General Merton Beckwith-Smith, c. 1940 | |
| Nickname(s) | "Becky" |
| Born | 11 July 1890 Chelsea, London, England |
| Died | 11 November 1942 (aged 52) Karenko Concentration Camp, Taiwan |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1910–1942 |
| Rank | Major General |
| Unit | Coldstream Guards Welsh Guards |
| Commands | 18th Infantry Division (1940–42) 1st Guards Brigade (1939–40) 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards (1932–34) |
| Battles / wars | First World War Second World War |
| Awards | Distinguished Service Order Military Cross Mentioned in Despatches (2) Croix de guerre (France) |
Major General Merton Beckwith-Smith, DSO, MC (11 July 1890 – 11 November 1942) was a senior British Army officer during both the First and Second World Wars.
Early life and military career
Beckwith-Smith was born on 11 July 1890, and educated at Eton and Oxford. In 1910 he was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards. He served with the Guards throughout the First World War, eventually becoming a staff officer in the Guards Division. On 4 October 1914, whilst 1st Guards' Brigade was holding trenches opposite the German line at the River Aisne, Beckwith-Smith was ordered by Brigadier General Charles FitzClarence to carry out a nighttime raid against a German position known as 'Fish Hook Trench'. This was the first British trench raid of the First World War. Beckwith-Smith was still just a lieutenant at the time and the raid was considered to be a striking success. On the front of the 1/Coldstream, just east of the Troyon factory road, the Germans had run out a sap, and it was decided to fill it in. At 8 P.M. a platoon of the battalion, led by Beckwith-Smith (who was wounded and subsequently received the Distinguished Service Order), crossing the hundred yards of No Man's Land, rushed the trench with the bayonet.
Between the wars
After attending the Staff College, Camberley, from 1921 to 1922, in 1930 Beckwith-Smith transferred to the Welsh Guards; he commanded the 1st Battalion from 1932 to 1937. After this he held various district commands in India before the outbreak of the Second World War.
Second World War
In 1940, during the Second World War, he was given command of the 1st Guards Brigade, part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) sent to France in 1939/1940. After the Battle of France and the subsequent retreat to Dunkirk, from where he was evacuated to England, Beckwith-Smith was given command of the Territorial 18th Infantry Division, which he trained in preparation for duty overseas.
In early 1942, after many weeks at sea, Beckwith-Smith's division was landed at Singapore. Japanese forces invaded Singapore Island on 8 February. Because of the defensive strategy implemented by the Allied commander, Lieutenant General Arthur Percival, most of the British 18th Division saw little or no action. Percival surrendered the 80,000 British and Commonwealth troops at Singapore on 15 February, including Beckwith-Smith and his division. In August 1942 he was moved to Formosa (now Taiwan) along with Percival and all the senior officers from Singapore.
On 11 November 1942 Merton Beckwith-Smith died at Karenko Camp of diphtheria as a prisoner of war.[1] In 1946 the Imperial War Graves Commission (now the Commonwealth War Graves Commission) exhumed all the Taiwan prisoner of war remains and reburied them in the Sai Wan War Cemetery in Hong Kong. Many years later his grave was identified by Jack Edwards on the request of Diana, Princess of Wales.[2][3]
Personal life
Beckwith-Smith married Honor Dorothy Leigh on 14 March 1918. He lived at The Manor House, Stratton Audley and Aberarder, Inverness. He had four children: Peter, Rosemary, Sarah and John.
Sources
- Colin Smith (2005). Singapore Burning. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-670-91341-1.
- Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnesley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 1844150496.
References
- ^ Goodman, Eric W. "War Diary of Brigadier Goodman". Britain at War.org. Retrieved 11 September 2009.
- ^ Staff Jack Edwards 1918 – 2006, The Times obituary 15 August 2006
- ^ CWGC entry
External links
- Use dmy dates from April 2012
- 1890 births
- 1942 deaths
- People educated at Eton College
- Coldstream Guards officers
- Welsh Guards officers
- British Army personnel of World War I
- British Army generals of World War II
- Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
- Military of Singapore under British rule
- World War II prisoners of war held by Japan
- Recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France)
- Deaths from diphtheria
- Infectious disease deaths in Taiwan
- Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley
- Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst