Reginald Savory

Lieutenant General Sir Reginald Arthur Savory KCIE CB DSO MC (1894–1980) was a British Indian Army officer during World War I and World War II.

Reginald Arthur Savory
Nickname(s)	Reg or Reggie
Born	26 July 1894
Died	14 June 1980 (aged 85) Farnham, Surrey
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Indian Army
Years of service	1914–1948
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands held	1st Battalion 11th Sikh Regiment (1937–39) 11th Indian Infantry Brigade (1940–1941) 23rd Indian Division (1942–1943)
Battles/wars	World War I Battle of Gallipoli World War II Western Desert Campaign East African Campaign Burma Campaign
Awards	KCIE (31 December 1946) CB (January 1944[1]) DSO (1941) MC (2 June 1916) MID (December 1941,[2] December 1943[3])
Other work	Deputy Lord Lieutenant of the County of Somerset (12 June 1952) Commissioner Indian Military Service Family Pension Fund

Military career

Educated at Uppingham School, he then attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Savory was commissioned onto the Unattached List of the Indian Army and posted to the 14th Sikhs in 1914.[4] He served in World War I initially in Egypt and then took part in the Gallipoli Campaign and then the Mesopotamian campaign.[4] Promoted to lieutenant on 14 April 1916,[5] he was awarded the Military Cross in June 1916.[6]

After the War Savory became Staff Captain with the British Military Mission to Vladivostok.[4] He went on to be an Instructor at the Army School of Education in India in 1925 and an Instructor at the Indian Military Academy in 1932 and was appointed commanding officer of 1st Battalion 11th Sikh Regiment in 1937[4] (with promotion to lieutenant-colonel on 6 December 1937).[7]

Savory initially served in World War II as Assistant Quartermaster-General for 5th Indian Division from 1939 (with promotion to colonel on 21 September 1939).[8] He went on to be Commander of 11th Indian Infantry Brigade which was deployed in the Western Desert on various operations including Operation Compass from 1940 (with promotion to the temporary rank of brigadier on 2 April 1940).[9] In early 1941 Savory took his brigade, part of 4th Indian Infantry Division, to Sudan and fought in the East African Campaign. After the Battle of Keren the brigade returned to the campaign in the Western Desert, taking part in Operation Battleaxe. Savory relinquished command of the brigade in September 1941 to serve as General Officer Commanding Eritrea in the acting rank of major-general.[10] In January 1942 he was given command of 23rd Indian Division in Burma and in 1943 was appointed as Director of Infantry for India (with permanent promotion to major-general on 24 October 1943).[11] In 1945 he became General Officer Commanding Iraq.[12]

After the War Savory became Adjutant-General, India (with promotion to acting lieutenant-general on 15 March 1946),[13] and was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire on 1 January 1947,[14] before retiring in May 1948.[4][15] After retirement, but when he was still on the Reserve List, his acting rank of lieutenant-general was in November 1949 made substantive with seniority backdated to September 1947.[16]

Savory was also colonel of the Sikh Light Infantry.[17] In retirement he wrote the book His Britannic Majesty's Army in Germany During the Seven Years' War (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1966).[4]

References

1. "No. 36309". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1943. p. 4.
2. "No. 35396". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 December 1941. p. 7353.
3. "No. 36287". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 December 1943. p. 5476.
4. Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
5. "No. 29651". The London Gazette. 4 July 1916. p. 6615.
6. "No. 29608". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 June 1916. p. 5577.
7. "No. 34479". The London Gazette. 4 February 1938. p. 738.
8. "No. 34832". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 April 1940. p. 2301.
9. "No. 34880". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 June 1940. p. 3847.
10. "No. 35740". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 October 1942. p. 4431.
11. "No. 36293". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 December 1943. p. 5525.
12. Ammentorp, Steen. "Generals of World War II". Retrieved 1 August 2007.
13. "No. 37579". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 May 1946. p. 2517.
14. "No. 37835". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1946. p. 6.
15. "No. 38321". The London Gazette. 11 June 1948. p. 3470.
16. "No. 38757". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 November 1949. p. 5354.
17. "No. 37524". The London Gazette. 5 April 1946. p. 1752.

Further reading

• Mackenzie, Compton (1951). Eastern Epic. Chatto & Windus, London. pp. 623 pages.
• "Orders of Battle.com". Retrieved 1 August 2007.

Military offices
Preceded by Sir Ralph Deedes	Adjutant-General, India 1946–1947	Succeeded by Post Disbanded