British Indian Army officer
Major-General Alan Bruce Blaxland , CB , OBE (17 October 1892 – 2 September 1963) was a senior British Indian Army officer during the Second World War .[ 2]
Early life and First World War
Born on 17 October 1892, he was the second son of the Rev. Bruce Blaxland of Lilleshall . He was educated at Shrewsbury School and went on to St Edmund Hall, Oxford , graduating in 1914.[ 3]
Blaxland was commissioned onto the Unattached List for the Indian Army on 5 August 1914 (the day after Britain's entry into the First World War ), with seniority of 21 January 1913, from being a university candidate. He was attached to the 1st Battalion, Sherwood Foresters in 1914. He later joined the Indian Army.
He was a captain when he married Lilian Ann Lucy in India 19 August 1919.
Second World War
Remaining in the army between the wars , he served in the Second World War . As an acting colonel he was an Area Commander in the Sudan from 16 January to 15 March 1941.[ 4]
He was appointed an acting brigadier on 16 March 1941 when he was appointed a brigade commander, an appointment he held until 21 July 1942.[ 4] As part of Paiforce (formerly Iraqforce ), Blaxland commanded the 27th Indian Infantry Brigade , part of the 6th Indian Infantry Division , during the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Persia . On 22 July 1942, he became General Officer Commanding of the 10th Indian Infantry Division , then serving in the Middle East until 28 August 1942. He was promoted to an acting lieutenant general on 29 August 1942[citation needed ] to command XXV Indian Corps [citation needed ] but reverted to major general in August 1943 for his next appointment in India as District Officer Commanding Lahore District .[ 5]
After the war he was the chairman of the Indian National Army courts-martial held at the Red Fort at Delhi between November 1945 and May 1946.
In recognition of his services, Blaxland was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1945, and awarded the Order of the Cloud and Banner with Special Cravat by China in 1947.
He retired as a colonel and honorary major general on 22 May 1947.[ 6]
References
^ 1911 England Census
^ a b "Obituary: Maj.-Gen. A. B. Blaxland". The Times . 3 September 1963. p. Maj.-Gen. A. B. Blaxland.
^ "General Blaxland Retires" . Civil & Military Gazette (Lahore) . 3 September 1946. p. 5.
^ a b Half Yearly Army List January 1946
^ London Gazette 18 October 1946
^ London Gazette 3 June 1947
Bibliography
Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War . Barnesley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 1844150496 .
External links