Frederick Witts

Lieutenant-General Frederick Vavasour Broome Witts CB, CBE, DSO, MC (30 January 1889 – 10 March 1969) was a senior British Army officer.

Frederick Witts
Born	30 January 1889 Upper Slaughter, Gloucestershire, England
Died	10 March 1969 (aged 80) Memorial Hospital, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	British Army
Years of service	1907–1943
Rank	Lieutenant-General
Service number	24225
Unit	Royal Engineers
Commands	8th Indian Infantry Brigade 45th Infantry Division 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division Bombay District
Battles / wars	First World War Second World War
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order Military Cross Mentioned in dispatches (3)
Relations	Frank Witts (brother)

Military career

Educated at Radley College,^[1] Witts, the son of a clergyman,^[2] was commissioned into the Royal Engineers after graduating from the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, on 23 July 1907.^[3][2] He served in the First World War and was awarded the Military Cross, as well as the Distinguished Service Order (DSO),^[4] and was mentioned in dispatches three times during the war.^[2] The citation for his MC reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and coolness. Under heavy rifle and machine gun fire he made a personal reconnaissance of the river bank, and subsequently led a party of his men carrying a pontoon across the open and down the bank. Although wounded himself, and in spite of casualties among his party, which made the task increasingly difficult, he succeeded, in full view of the enemy, in launching the pontoon.^[5]

Witts attended the Staff College, Quetta, from 1922−1923 and served at the War Office in London for the next four years.^[2] After serving on the directing staff at the Staff College, Camberley, from 1930−1932,^[2] Witts became Commander Royal Engineers for the 5th Infantry Division in 1933, Brigadier on the general staff of Western Command in India in December 1937 and commander of the 8th Indian Brigade in India in May 1938.^[6]

In the Second World War he served as General Officer Commanding 45th Infantry Division from September 1939, Deputy Chief of Staff for the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France from April 1940 and General Officer Commanding 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division from May 1940.^[7] After that he became General Officer Commanding Bombay District in India from July 1941 and Acting General Officer Commanding Southern Command in India in 1942 before retiring in 1943.^[8]

References

1. Crisp, Frederick Arthur (1902). Visitation of England and Wales. Vol. 10. Heritage Books. ISBN 978-0788404054.
2. Smart 2005, p. 344.
3. "No. 28049". The London Gazette. 9 August 1907. p. 5450.
4. "No. 30252". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 August 1917. p. 8854.
5. "No. 13071". The Edinburgh Gazette. 28 March 1917. p. 642.
6. "Army Commands" (PDF). Retrieved 20 June 2020.
7. Joslen, H. F. (2003) [1960]. Orders of Battle: Second World War, 1939–1945. Uckfield, East Sussex: Naval and Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84342-474-1., p. 39
8. "Witts, Frederick Vavasour Broome". Generals.dk. Retrieved 29 June 2020.

Bibliography

• Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 1844150496.
• Witts, Frederick (2009). Hadman, Jasper (ed.). The Mespot Letters of a Cotswold Soldier. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1-848-68041-8.

External links

• Generals of World War II

Military offices
New title	GOC 45th Infantry Division 1939−1940	Succeeded by Desmond Anderson
Preceded by Ralph Eastwood	GOC 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division 1940–1941	Succeeded by James Steele