(1896-12-15)15 December 1896 New Brighton, Wallasey, Cheshire, England
Died
5 June 1969(1969-06-05) (aged 72) Yattendon, Berkshire, England
Allegiance
United Kingdom
Service/branch
British Army
Years of service
1915–1947
Rank
General
Service number
9391[1]
Unit
Royal Berkshire Regiment
Commands held
Middle East Land Forces (1946–47)
Allied Land Forces, South East Asia (1945–46)
Fourteenth Army (1945)
Second Army (1944–45)
XIII Corps (1942–44)
42nd Armoured Division (1941–42)
42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division (1941)
46th Infantry Division (1941)
13th Infantry Brigade (1939–40)
1st Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment (1938–39)
Battles/wars
First World War:
Battle of Delville Wood
Battle of Cambrai
German spring offensive
Hundred Days Offensive
Iraqi revolt of 1920
Russian Civil War
Second World War:
Battle of France
Allied invasion of Sicily
Battle of Normandy
Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine
Operation Market Garden
Western Allied invasion of Germany
Greek Civil War
Palestine Emergency
Awards
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Service Order
Military Cross
Mentioned in Despatches (4)
Army Distinguished Service Medal (United States)
Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States)
Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold with Palm (Belgium)
Croix de guerre with Palm (Belgium)
Knight Grand Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau with Swords (Netherlands)
General Sir Miles Christopher Dempsey, GBE, KCB, DSO, MC, DL (15 December 1896 – 5 June 1969) was a senior British Army officer who served in both world wars. During the Second World War he commanded the Second Army in northwest Europe. A highly professional career soldier who made his reputation in active service, Dempsey was highly thought of by both his subordinates and superiors, most notably Bernard Montgomery, but is not well known.
A 1915 graduate of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Dempsey was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Berkshire Regiment. As a junior officer, he fought on the Western Front during the First World War, where he was wounded, and was awarded the Military Cross. After the war, he served in Iraq during the Iraqi revolt of 1920, in Iran during the Russian Civil War, and in India.
During the Second World War Dempsey formed a close relationship with Montgomery. He commanded the 13th Brigade in the Battle of France in 1940, and then spent the next two years training troops in England. He commanded the Eighth Army's XIII Corps in the Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy in 1943. He commanded the Second Army during the Battle of Normandy and made rapid advances in the subsequent campaign in Northern France and Belgium.
After the war, he commanded the Fourteenth Army in the Far East, and the Middle East Command during the Greek Civil War and the Palestine Emergency. He retired from the Army in 1947, and was involved in horse racing. He bred and raced his own horses, and was Chairman of the Racecourse Betting Control Board from 1947 to 1951.
^Cite error: The named reference KCB was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
General Sir Miles Christopher Dempsey, GBE, KCB, DSO, MC, DL (15 December 1896 – 5 June 1969) was a senior British Army officer who served in both world...
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could be trapped by a general swing east. Montgomery told General Sir MilesDempsey, the commander of Second British Army: "Go on hitting, drawing the German...
the river Lippe by the British Second Army under Lieutenant General MilesDempsey, and the United States Ninth Army under Lieutenant General William H...
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was liberated in 1945, the palace was briefly occupied by General Sir MilesDempsey, followed by Commander-in-Chief Sir Montagu Stopford in 1946. On 16...
Lieutenant General MilesDempsey is invested with his knighthood as Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, in the field of battle, by King George...
from the British Second Army, under the command of Lieutenant General Miles C. Dempsey. The objective of the army was to advance across northern Germany and...
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his contemporary corps commanders in North Africa, Oliver Leese and MilesDempsey, went on to command at army level and above. Horrocks' wound continued...
(Major-general Gerard Bucknall) of XIII Corps, under Lieutenant-General MilesDempsey, would land on the north side of the "toe" while its 1st Canadian Infantry...
(Maj-Gen Christopher Vokes) British Second Army Lieutenant-General MilesDempsey 79th Armoured Division (Maj-Gen Sir Percy C.S. Hobart) British I Corps...
Group at this time comprised the British Second Army under General MilesDempsey, the First Canadian Army under General Harry Crerar and the US Ninth...
Corps and XXX Corps of the British Second Army (Lieutenant-General MilesDempsey), were to secure the road junction of Vire and the high ground of Mont...
alongside the British Second Army, commanded by Lieutenant-General MilesDempsey, made up the 21st Army Group, commanded by General Sir Bernard Montgomery...
Lippe River by the British Second Army, under Lieutenant-General Sir MilesDempsey. It went on to support the three British Armoured Divisions in their...
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casualties were minimal. Fourteenth Army (now under Lieutenant General MilesDempsey) and XV Corps had returned to India to plan the next stage of the campaign...
(Utah) and V Corps (Omaha). On the British side, Lieutenant-General MilesDempsey commanded the Second Army, under which XXX Corps was assigned to Gold...
safely reaching the Allied lines, he consulted with Lieutenant General MilesDempsey in Eindhoven, agreeing to a rescue. On the night of 22/23 October, 140...
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