Frederick Hubert Vinden (1895 - 2 February 1977) was 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 the

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 Gurkha ...

who played a key role in the establishment of new officer selection methods, the

War Office Selection Boards War Office Selection Boards, or WOSBs, (pronounced Wosbees) were a scheme devised by British Army psychiatrists during World War II to select potential officers for the British Army. They replaced an earlier method, the Command Interview Board, a ...

. Vinden later had a career in international service. He played a key role in building the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million p ...

after the country was declared independent in 1947, and worked for the UN,

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

, and the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate ...

Early life

Frederick Vinden was born in 1895 and grew up in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

, Devon, England. He was educated at

Exeter School Exeter School is an independent co-educational day school for pupils between the ages of 7 and 18 in Exeter, Devon, England. In 2019, there were around 200 pupils in the Junior School and 700 in the Senior School. History The School traces its ...

and the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

Military career

Vinden's military service began during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

when he enlisted and served as a junior NCO in the 20th Battalion

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...

. He served on the Western front from November 1915, and was later commissioned into the

Suffolk Regiment The Suffolk Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army with a history dating back to 1685. It saw service for three centuries, participating in many wars and conflicts, including the First and Second World Wars, before b ...

, with whom he served during the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place be ...

and the Battle of Arras. Vinden attended the Army

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, whic ...

, and worked as an instructor at No. 18 Officer Cadet Battalion in Bath. During the 1920s, Vinden served in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

at the Curragh internment camp. He did not enjoy this role as he felt too inexperienced and was frustrated by the number of disturbances. In an effort to prevent escape attempts, Vinden signed a notice warning internees that they were putting their lives at risk, however even a mock shooting staged with a British guard dressed as a prisoner seemed to have little effect at dissuading future attempts. In the 1930s, Vinden supervised trials which led to British Army use of the Bren Gun. He then became Director of Intelligence in the Far East. In this role, he produced reports on the security of

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

and Malaya. He said of this work that, "Intelligence is not always an affair of spies looking through keyholes or of seduction by charming ladies with big black eyes." During

World War II 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Vinden became Assistant

Adjutant General An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

. He was responsible for the provision of officers, and complained of a shortfall so severe that he was unable to provide enough personnel to the Middle East and India. Vinden and Sir Andrew Thorne subsequently worked with psychiatrists including Eric Wittkower and Thomas Ferguson Rodger to adapt German methods for use in selecting officers for the British Army. The scheme created was the War Office Selection Boards (WOSBs). In 1943, Vinden took WOSBs to the Indian Army when he was appointed Director of Selection and Personnel.

International service career

On retiring from the British Army, Vinden served for two years in the Indian Home Department. When independence was declared in 1947, he became Joint Secretary to the Indian Government, where he helped to establish

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

's Civil Service. In the early 1950s, Vinden worked recruiting personnel for the UN Technical Assistance Programme. He followed this role with work for

and, in the 1960s, work for the

. He was actively involved in the selection committee for

Voluntary Service Overseas Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) is a not-for-profit international development organization charity with a vision for "a fair world for everyone" and a mission to "create lasting change through volunteering". VSO delivers development impact throug ...

and assisted the

National Foundation for Educational Research The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) is an educational research organisation which gathers evidence and research to inform educational policy and school services. The foundation is not an examination board, however they provi ...

Personal life

Vinden married Rose (died 10 February 2005) and they had a son Anthony John Vinden.

References

External links

Generals of World War II
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vinden, Frederick People educated at Exeter School British Army personnel of World War I British Army brigadiers of World War II Indian Civil Service (British India) officers 1895 births 1977 deaths Royal Fusiliers soldiers Suffolk Regiment officers Military personnel from Exeter Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley