Montagu Stopford

Not to be confused with his grandfather, the 19th century admiral Montagu Stopford (admiral).

Sir Montagu Stopford
Sir Montagu Stopford c.1945
Born	16 November 1892 Hanover Square, London
Died	10 March 1971(1971-03-10) (aged 78)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1911–1949
Rank	General
Unit	Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)
Commands held	17th Infantry Brigade 56th (London) Infantry Division Staff College, Camberley XII Corps XXXIII Indian Corps Twelfth Army South East Asia Command Northern Command
Battles/wars	World War I Western Front World War II Battle of France Battle of Arras Burma Campaign Battle of Imphal Battle of Kohima Battle of Meiktila and Mandalay Battle of the Sittang Bend
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order Military Cross Mentioned in dispatches

General Sir Montagu George North Stopford GCB, KBE, DSO, MC (16 November 1892 – 10 March 1971) was a senior British Army officer who fought during both World War I and World War II, where he became Commander-in-Chief South East Asia Command from 1946 to 1947.

Early life

Stopford was the son of Colonel Sir Lionel Arthur Montagu Stopford, and the great-grandson of James Stopford, 3rd Earl of Courtown. His mother was Mabel Georgina Emily, daughter of George Alexander Mackenzie. He was educated at Wellington College and at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He was commissioned as 2nd lieutenant into the Rifle Brigade in 1911, serving with the 2nd Battalion of the regiment in India until 1914.^[1]

First World War

He fought in the First World War,^[1] where he was mentioned in despatches and awarded the Military Cross, having entered France as a lieutenant with the 2nd Battalion, Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) on 6 November 1914 (Medal Index Card, Kew, England), and become G.S.O.3 of the 56th (London) Division, Territorial Force, on 10 June 1916, as a captain. On 6 December 1916 he became the Brigade-Major of the 56th Division's 167th (1st London) Brigade, a post which he held thru to 25 March 1918 ('56th Division' by C. Dudley-Ward, Pub. 1921). He ended the war with the substantive rank of major.

Second World War

Immediately before the outbreak of World War II, Stopford was an instructor at the Staff College, Camberley. He commanded the 17th Infantry Brigade, part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), from 1939 to 1940, leading the brigade during the Battle of Arras.^[1] He was General Officer Commanding 56th (London) Infantry Division from 1940 to 1941 and then became Commandant of the Staff College, Camberley in October 1941.^[2] He commanded British XII Corps from 1942 to 1943^[3] and XXXIII Indian Corps in Burma from 1943 to 1945.^[1] He finally commanded the British Twelfth Army, formed in Burma in 1945, which defeated the Japanese breakout attempt in the Pegu Yomas in July and August of that year, the last action of the war.^[1]

After the war Stopford served as commander of Burma Command (renamed from Twelfth Army) from 1945 to 1946, as Commander-in-Chief Allied Land Forces in the Dutch East Indies in 1946 and as Commander-in-Chief South East Asia Command from 1946 to 1947 before becoming General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command from 1947 to 1949.^[1] He retired from the British Army in 1949,^[1] with the rank of general. He was also appointed Colonel-in-Chief of the Rifle Brigade.

Stopford was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1940 and made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1942. In December 1944 he and his fellow corps commanders Philip Christison and Geoffrey Scoones were knighted and invested as Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire by the viceroy Lord Wavell at a ceremony at Imphal in front of the Scottish, Gurkha and Punjab regiments. William Slim was knighted and invested as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath at the same occasion.

Later life

After the war Stopford was further made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1947 and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in 1948. In 1962 he held the honorary post of Deputy Lieutenant of Oxfordshire. He lived at Rock Hill House in Chipping Norton.^[4] He married Dorothy, daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Foulkes Deare, in 1921.^[5] They had no children. His wife died in 1982.

References