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 (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

Archer Francis Lawrence Clive, DSO and

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

, MC

KStJ The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (), commonly known as the Order of St John, and also known as St John International, is an order of chivalry constituted in 1888 by royal charter from Queen Victoria and dedica ...

(24 June 1903, in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

– March 1995, in

Ross-on-Wye Ross-on-Wye is a market town and civil parish in Herefordshire, England, near the border with Wales. It had a population estimated at 10,978 in 2021. It lies in the south-east of the county, on the River Wye and on the northern edge of the Fore ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

) was a British Army officer who served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Family

Clive was the son of Lieutenant-General Sir George Sidney Clive and Madeline Buxton. He was educated at

New Beacon School The New Beacon Preparatory School is an independent all-boys preparatory school, located at Sevenoaks in the English county of Kent. It admits both day students and boarders aged between 4 and 13. The school also now offers a co-educational nu ...

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

(January 1917-?) and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

. He was married twice; firstly on 8 February 1934 to the

Honourable ''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific Style ...

Penelope Isobel Portman (daughter of Gerald Berkeley Portman, 7th

Viscount Portman Viscount Portman, in the County of Somerset, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 28 March 1873, for the former Lord Lieutenant of Somerset and Liberal Member of Parliament Edward Portman, 1st Baron Portman. ...

). The couple had two children (a son and a daughter); they were divorced in 1949. His second marriage was to Olivia Mary Beatrice Stanley, on 3 October 1950.

Military career

After graduating from Sandhurst, Clive was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the

Grenadier Guards The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...

on 1 February 1923. Promoted on 1 February 1925 to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

, from May 1928 to August 1930, he was attached to the

Sudan Defence Force The Sudan Defence Force (SDF) was a British Colonial Auxiliary Forces unit raised in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan in 1925 to assist local police in internal security duties and maintain the condominium's territorial integrity. During World War II, ...

(SDF). Returning to England, from 1938 to 1939 he attended the

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, which ...

. From September 1939 until July 1940, he served with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), first as a General Staff Officer, 3rd grade (GSO3), then from March 1940 as a

brigade major A brigade major was the chief of staff of a brigade in the British Army. They most commonly held the rank of major, although the appointment was also held by captains, and was head of the brigade's "G - Operations and Intelligence" section direct ...

. He was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

in July 1940 for his services with the BEF. Clive then served at the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

as a General Staff Officer, 2nd grade (GSO2), until 15 February 1941, when, promoted to the

acting rank An acting rank is a designation that allows military personnel to assume a higher military rank, which is usually temporary. They may assume that rank either with or without the pay and allowances appropriate to that grade, depending on the natu ...

of lieutenant colonel, he was appointed

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, 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 give ...

(CO) of the 6th Battalion, Grenadier Guards. The battalion was a war-raised unit composed mainly of civilian soldiers who had volunteered for the army, along with a few

Regular Regular may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * "Regular" (Badfinger song) * Regular tunings of stringed instruments, tunings with equal intervals between the paired notes of successive open strings Other uses * Regular character, ...

s. After training in England the battalion was sent overseas in June 1942, arriving in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

where, in October, it was assigned to

Julian Gascoigne Major-General Sir Julian Alvery Gascoigne, (, 25 October 1903 – 26 February 1990) was a senior British Army officer who served in the Second World War and became Major-General commanding the Household Brigade and General Officer Commanding ...

201st Guards Brigade First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

. Together with the rest of the brigade, Clive's battalion was sent to

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

to become part of the

British Eighth Army The Eighth Army was a field army of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed as the Western Army on 10 September 1941, in Egypt, before being renamed the Army of the Nile and then the Eighth Army on 26 September. It was cr ...

, where it was engaged in the final stages of the

Tunisian Campaign The Tunisian campaign (also known as the battle of Tunisia) was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African campaign of the Second World War, between Axis and Allied forces from 17 November 1942 to 13 May 1943. Th ...

, notably at the

Battle of the Mareth Line The Battle of the Mareth Line or the Battle of Mareth was an attack in the Second World War by the British Eighth Army (General Bernard Montgomery) in Tunisia, against the Mareth Line held by the Italo–German 1st Army (General Giovanni Mess ...

in mid-March, where the battalion suffered heavily. For his service with the Grenadiers in North Africa, he received his first

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

. For six months between 12 August 1943 and 13 February 1944, Clive performed staff officer (GS01) roles with 203 Military Mission and then with the

21st Army Group The 21st Army Group was a British headquarters formation formed during the Second World War. It controlled two field armies and other supporting units, consisting primarily of the British Second Army and the First Canadian Army. Established ...

. After this, he became commander of the 24th Guards Brigade, as a temporary brigadier, in Italy until the end of October 1944. For his service in Italy, he was awarded a

to his DSO. Clive was a member of the Military Mission to South Africa between 1945 and 1946. Clive retired from active service, with the honorary rank of brigadier, late of the Grenadier Guards, on 9 December 1947, being listed in the Regular Army Reserve of Officers until 24 September 1958. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1953 and Deputy Lieutenant for Herefordshire on 24 May 1960.

Awards and decorations

and

(11 July 1940) * Knight of the

Order of St John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...

(July 1985, previously Commander (January 1971) and Officer (September 1966) of the Order)

References

External links

British Army Officers 1939−1945
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clive, Archer 1903 births 1995 deaths British Army brigadiers of World War II Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Deputy lieutenants of Herefordshire English justices of the peace Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Grenadier Guards officers Knights of the Order of St John People educated at Harrow School Military personnel from London Recipients of the Military Cross Sudan Defence Force officers War Office personnel in World War II