49th West Riding Division

Lt-Col. A.L. Novis

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Lieutenant-Colonel Tony Novis
1st Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment

I hope A. L. Novis will be available by the time International Matches come along—how superbly he played in the Irish match at Twickenham! Those two tries of his—one scored on the wing by sheer determination, the other when he moved into the centre and went like a snipe through the defence—those two tries, to my mind, put the whole standard of International Rugby up a notch or two, for when such things are possible, we still have true descendants of the Golden Age.

(Howard Marshall, The Bystander, 27 Sep 1933, 566)

Born on 22 September 1906 in Malabar Hill, British India, Anthony Leslie Novis was a rugby union international player and captained the English national team in 1933. He was educated at Oxford University. He played for numerous rugby teams including Leicestershire FC, Blackheath, and the Army as a commissioned officer in the Leicestershire Regiment since 1929. After prewar service in Palestine, he served as a company commander with the 2nd Battalion in the Western Desert.

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Lt-Col. F.F.S. Barlow

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Lieutenant-Colonel F.F.S. Barlow
2nd Battalion, South Wales Borderers

This Officer’s service throughout the operation during some very intricate and difficult situation were of a very high order. By his calm courage, high sense of duty and imperturbability at all times, he has been a constant source of inspiration and example to his bn. I cannot speak too highly of the officer’s services to the Bn and Bde.

(D.S.O. recommendation, 26 Sep 1944)

Born on 8 June 1905 Parkstone, Dorset, Frank Frederick Stewart Barlow was a commissioned officer in the South Wales Borderers since 1924. Having served in India and Palestine during the 1930s, he mobilized with the 2nd Battalion in September 1940. He was promoted to second-in-command in October 1942. The battalion landed on Gold Beach on 6 June 1944, and after Lieutenant-Colonel R.W. Craddock was wounded two days later, Barlow assumed command of the 2nd South Wales Borders.

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Lt-Col. R.W.M. De Winton

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Lieutenant-Colonel R.W.M. De Winton
5th/7th Battalion, Gordon Highlanders
1st Battalion, Tyneside Scottish
2nd Battalion, Gordon Highlanders

I did not mean to hit the man or the uniform. I wanted to hit only the major representatives of the Big Four at Pola. Unfortunately he was a man and a soldier. If I had had the occasion, I would have hit the Big Four—as a symbol of the injustice to my country.

(Maria Pasquinelli in Associated Press, 19 Mar 1947)

Born on 16 September 1908 in Edinburgh, Scotland, Robert William Michael De Winton was a graduate of Royal Military College, Sandhurst and a commissioned officer in the Gordon Highlanders since 1932. He temporarily took over 5/7th Battalion in Sicily in August 1943 and then commanded 1st Battalion, Tyneside Scottish from January 1944 until it deployed to France after D-Day.

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Lt-Col. R.K. Exham

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Lieutenant-Colonel Roy Exham
6th Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment
6th Battalion, Green Howards

I will not attempt to describe another action which we fought as all I can remember is a bloody time when three soldiers were killed at my side. Again we captured our objective. It was an unpleasant time and my sympathies went to the forward companies, which were dug in close to the Germans and could not see anything, were unable to move and were shelled most of the time. There was a wondaful feeling of relief when at last we were on the move.

(Exham quoted in Mike Morgan, D-Day Hero)

Born on 25 January 1907 in Readlynch, Wiltshire, Robert Kenah Exham took as commission in the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (West Riding) in 1926 after graduating from Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He served on the North West Frontier in India before the Second World War. As a staff officer with 3rd Infantry Brigade in June 1940, he earned the Military Cross for invaluable assistance during the evacuation from Dunkirk.

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Lt-Col. F.W. Sanders

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Lieutenant-Colonel F.W. Sandars
11th & 10th Battalions, Durham Light Infantry
1st Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment

Throughout Lt. Col. Sandars displayed outstanding devotion to duty and disregard for his personal safety. His HQ and the whole Bn area was frequently under heavy arty fire. This officer moved about the Bn area to carry out a recce, make a plan, and issue orders.

(D.S.O. citation, 21 Dec 1944)

Born on 18 April 1903 Egremont, Cheshire, England, Francis Wyld Sandars attended Wellington College and Royal Military College, Sandhurst before taking a commission with the Durham Light Infantry in 1923. He served with the 2nd Battalion in India, Shanghai, and Waziristan. Back in the United Kingdom during the 1930s, he completed Staff College at Camberley and held general staff appointments in the UK after the outbreak of the Second World War. In January 1942, he returned to the Durham Light Infantry on appointment to command the 11th Battalion.

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Lt-Col. J.H.O. Wilsey

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Lieutenant-Colonel Felix Wilsey
7th Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment

The commanding officer with whom I most frequently discussed matters affecting morale was my friend. Felix Wilsey. He made a point of chatting with his soldiers during the tense times before battle, admitting that it was natural to feel jittery admitting that it was natural to feel jittery and jumpy at such times, as he himself well knew. Did they feel at all like that? Well, they could take it from him that it would all be forgotten once the real action began, when no one would have time to be jumpy, and so on.

(Frank M. Richardson, Fighting Spirit: A Study of Psychological Factors in War, 118)

Born on 29 November 1904 in Camberley, Surrey, John Harold Owen Wilsey graduated from Haileybury and Imperial Service College and later attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He took a commission with the Dorset Regiment in 1924 and transferred to the Worcestershire Regiment in 1936. Following general staff duties at the start of the war, he took command of the 9th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment in January 1943.

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Lt-Col. C.D. Hamilton

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Lieutenant-Colonel Denis Hamilton
11th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry
7th Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment

I can’t hide from myself the fact that on many occasions I was either uncertain of the outcome or plain scared. But as commanding officer you had to show yourself, and show yourself totally in command of yourself and the situation, for the troops instinctively get to feel whether the commanding officer is going to keep control or not. Quite a number of COs were removed, either because they lost their nerve through not being able to get enough sleep or clearly lost the confidence of the troops.

(Hamilton, Editor-in-Chief: The Fleet Street Memoirs, 39)

Born in South Shields, England on 6 December 1918, Charles Denis Hamilton was a former King’s Scout and newspaperman. Anticipating a future war and possible conscription, he joined the Territorial Army and took a commission with the Durham Light Infantry in 1937. He served during the evacuation from Dunkirk in June 1940, and then began training for defence of the anticipated German invasion. “We soon had a powerful battalion,” he wrote of the 11th DLI, “… I grew a moustache in the faint hope that I too might look older. I was never to shave it off.”

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Lt-Col. A.J.D. Turner

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Lieutenant-Colonel A.J.D. Turner
6th Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment
1st Battalion, Hampshire Regiment

Even excluding the question of nerves and morale 6DWR will not be fit to go back into the line until it is remobilised, reorganized, and to an extent retrained. It is no longer a battalion but a collection of individuals. There is naturally no espirit-de-corps for those who are frightened (as we all are to one degree or another) to fall back on. I have twice had to stand at the end of a track and draw my revolver on retreating men.

(Turner, Report on State of 6th Bn DWR, 30 June 1944)

Born on 19 September 1907 in Abbottabad, India, Antony James Dillon Turner was a one-time first-class cricket player and graduate of Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Commissioned with the Suffolk Regiment in 1928, he also served with the West African Frontier Force and in India. He attended staff college at Camberley in 1938 before being posted to the Aldershot Garrison as staff captain. With the outbreak of war in September 1939, Turner was appointed deputy assistant adjutant general with I Corps and participated in the evacuation at Dunkirk for which he earned the Military Cross.

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Lt-Col. T. Hart Dyke

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Lieutenant-Colonel T. Hart Dyke
Hallamshire Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment

It was now getting most difficult to find men to accept the added responsibility and danger of leadership. There was little to offer in return for what one asked of them. Rank and money meant little these days. A dozen times they had escaped improbably. Long ago the few surviving men in the rifle companies had been bound to realize the odds against them remaining unharmed. But the honour and good name of the battalion meant much to them.

(Hart Dyke, Normandy to Arnhem: A Story of the Infantry)

Born on 19 February 1905 in Chaman, British India, Trevor Hart Dyke attended Marlborough College then the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. He took a commission with Queen’s Royal Regiment in 1924 and served with the 2nd Battalion in India and the Sudan. He volunteered with the King’s African Rifles in the 1930s in Keyna and Uganda until he rejoined the Queen’s Regiment in 1936. Having completed staff college at Camberley, he held posts with the War Officer and staff assignments at brigade and division levels.

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Lt-Col. A.W.H.J. Montgomery-Cuninghame

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Lieutenant-Colonel A.W.H.J. Montgomery-Cuninghame
11th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers

As the name ‘Big Monty’ might imply, Lt.-Col. Montgomery-Cuninghame was an awesome figure. Well over six feet tall and built like a giant, he was a forceful and thrusting leader of the Battalion … Of course, some of the methods he had formulated to attain the present discipline and dedication to the job in hand, had not always met with the instant approval of the rank and file.

(Kenneth West, An’ It’s Called a Tam-o’-shanter)

Born on 28 October 1905 in Chelsea, Middlesex, England, Alexander William Henry James Montgomery-Cuninghame was heir to Baronet of Corsehill. His father Sir Thomas (1877—1945), earned the Distinguished Service Order in the Boer War and his grandfather Sir William James (1834—1897), received the Victoria Cross in the Crimean War. Following the family’s military tradition, the younger Montgomery-Cuninghame took a commission in the Royal Scots Fusiliers.

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