Francis Mitchell (British Army officer)

Major-General Francis Neville Mitchell CB CBE DSO (1904–1954) was a British Army officer who commanded 6th Armoured Division.

Francis Mitchell
Born1904
Died15 September 1954
Germany
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service1924-1954
RankMajor-General
Commands held1st Royal Gloucestershire Hussars
26th Armoured Brigade
22nd Armoured Brigade
6th Armoured Division
Battles/warsWorld War II
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Distinguished Service Order
RelationsAdmiral Francis Mitchell
Rev. Patrick Mitchell KCVO

Military career

Born the eldest son of Admiral Francis Mitchell and a cousin of Patrick Mitchell KCVO,[1] Mitchell graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and was commissioned into the 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars in 1924.[2]

He served in World War II as an Instructor at the Staff College, Camberley from 1940, as a General Staff Officer with 9th Armoured Division from 1941 and as Commanding Officer of 1st Royal Gloucestershire Hussars from 1942.[3] He was appointed Commander of 26th Armoured Brigade in Italy in 1944, and Assistant Deputy Adjutant-General at Allied Forces Headquarters in 1945.[3] At the end of the War he was appointed CBE.[4]

He went on to be Commander of 22nd Armoured Brigade in 1947, Brigadier Royal Armoured Corps for the British Army of the Rhine in 1949 and Chief of Staff for I (British) Corps in Germany in 1951.[3] His last appointment was as General Officer Commanding 6th Armoured Division in 1953 before his sudden death in a horse riding accident in Germany in 1954.[3]

Family

In 1935 he married Ann Christian Livingstone-Learmouth.[5] Their daughter Mona served as Private Secretary to Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy, from 1974 until 1991, and was appointed a DCVO on retirement.[6] Francis Mitchell's grandfather, Col. Herbert Leonard Mitchell, married Mary Arabella Susan Reynolds, the niece of Major-General John William Reynolds and the granddaughter of General Charles Reynolds. His brother Lieut-Cmdr David Reynolds Mitchell was killed one week before the end of WWII.[1] He is the cousin of Maj. Douglas Reynolds VC.[7]

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References
  1. Seaver, J. Montgomery. "Mitchell Family Records". American Historical-Genealogical Society. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  2. "No. 32969". The London Gazette. 29 August 1924. p. 6498.
  3. "Mitchell, Francis Neville". Generals.dk. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  4. "Recommendation for Award for Mitchell, Francis Neville Rank: Lieutenant Colonel". National Archives. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  5. "Mitchell, Dame Mona (Ann)". Headlam. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  6. "Mitchell, Dame Mona (Ann)", Who Was Who (online ed., Oxford University Press, December 2007). Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  7. England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
Military offices
Preceded by
George Prior-Palmer		 GOC 6th Armoured Division
1953–1955		 Succeeded by
Roderick McLeod
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