General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

Sir Harold English "Pete" Pyman, (12 March 1908 – 9 October 1971) was a senior

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

officer who served during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and achieved high office in the 1960s. He was the eldest son of Harold English Pyman and Christian Jane Scott, and the great-grandson of George Pyman.

Military career

Educated at

Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational independent boarding and day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in 1983. In ...

and

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Iris ...

, Pyman was commissioned into the Royal Tank Corps in 1929. He took part in operations on the North West Frontier of

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

in 1937.

Pyman served in the

, initially as an instructor at the Staff College in

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in south-west of the country close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is the capital of the ...

in India from 1939 moving on to be a General Staff Officer in 7th Armoured Division in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...

in 1942. He was appointed

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latit ...

of 3rd

Royal Tank Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as th ...

in 1942. He was then a

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

on the General Staff for Home Forces and then on the General Staff for XXX Corps in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

in 1944. He was Chief of Staff of Second Army in North West Europe from later in 1944 to 1945. After the war Pyman was on the General Staff of Allied Land Forces in South East Asia but moved on to be Deputy Director of Staff Duties at the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence (MoD ...

in 1946 and then Chief of Staff for Middle East Land Forces later in 1946, during the Palestine Emergency. He was appointed General Officer Commanding for

56th (London) Armoured Division The 56th (London) Infantry Division was a Territorial Army infantry division of the British Army, which served under several different titles and designations. The division served in the trenches of the Western Front during the First World War. ...

in 1949 and Director General Fighting Vehicles at the Ministry of Supply in 1951. Pyman became General Officer Commanding 11th Armoured Division in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

in 1953 and Director of Weapons and Development at the

in 1955 before becoming General Officer Commanding

1st British Corps I Corps ("First Corps") was an army corps in existence as an active formation in the British Army for most of the 80 years from its creation in the First World War until the end of the Cold War, longer than any other corps. It had a short-liv ...

within

British Army of the Rhine There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. Both formations had areas of responsibility locate ...

in 1956 and Deputy Chief of Imperial General Staff in 1958. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief

Allied Forces Northern Europe Allied Forces Northern Europe (AFNORTH) was the northern Major Subordinate Command of NATO's Allied Command Europe (ACE), located at Kolsås outside Oslo. In the case of war with the Soviet Union, AFNORTH would assume supreme command of all All ...

in 1961; he retired in 1964.

References

Bibliography

* *''Call to Arms'' by Sir Harold Pyman, Leo Cooper, 1971, *

External links

Generals of World War II
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Pyman, Harold 1908 births 1971 deaths Academics of the Staff College, Quetta Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge British Army generals of World War II British military personnel of the Palestine Emergency Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Graduates of the Staff College, Quetta Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath People educated at Fettes College Royal Tank Regiment officers