Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Allison Digby Tatham-Warter, (21 May 1917 – 21 March 1993), also known as Digby Tatham-Warter or just Digby, was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

who fought in the

Second World War 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 ...

and was famed for wearing a

bowler hat The bowler hat, also known as a Coke hat, billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849 and commissioned by ...

and carrying an umbrella into battle.

Early life

Digby was born in

Atcham Atcham is a village, ecclesiastical parish and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Shropshire, England. It lies on the B4380 (once the A5 road (Great Britain), A5), 5 miles south-east of Shrewsbury. The River Severn flows round the villag ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

, on 21 May 1917. He was the second son of Henry de Grey Tatham-Warter, a landowner with several estates in the southwest of England. Digby's father fought in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

with the

Artists Rifles The 21 Special Air Service Regiment (Artists) (Reserve), historically known as The Artists Rifles, is a regiment of the British Army Reserve. Its name is abbreviated to 21 SAS(R). Raised in London in 1859 as a volunteer light infantry unit, ...

; he was gassed in the

trenches A trench is a type of excavation or depression in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a swale or a bar ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches res ...

and died when Digby was 11. Digby was educated at

Wellington College, Berkshire Wellington College is a co-educational public school providing education for boarding and day pupils in the village of Crowthorne, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. Wellington is a registered charity and currently educates roughly 1,100 pu ...

Early military career

In 1935 he was accepted into 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 ...

. Digby passed out of Sandhurst on 21 January 1937 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Unattached List for the

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

with a view to joining the Indian Army due to his family connections. He was attached to the 2nd Battalion,

Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was a light infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1881 until 1958, serving in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. The regiment was formed as a consequence of th ...

, then serving in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, from 13 March 1937, and subsequently transferred to that regiment 27 April 1938 (never joining the Indian Army) so that he would be able to continue his hobbies of

tiger hunting The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

and pig sticking.

Second World War

When the

broke out, Digby was not initially sent to fight in Europe. His sister Kit served in the

Western Desert Campaign The Western Desert campaign (Desert War) took place in the Sahara Desert, deserts of Egypt and Libya and was the main Theater (warfare), theatre in the North African campaign of the Second World War. Military operations began in June 1940 with ...

and was awarded the French

Croix de guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

while serving with the Hadfield-Spears Unit. Upon hearing of his brother John's death at the

Second Battle of El Alamein The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian Railway station, railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa ...

in late 1942 with the 2nd Dragoon Guards, The Queen's Bays, Digby volunteered for the

airborne forces Airborne forces are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in airborne units are also known as paratroopers. The main ...

and transferred to the Parachute Regiment. He was appointed as the

company commander A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 100–250 soldiers and usually commanded by a major or a captain. Most companies are made up of three to seven platoons, although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and struc ...

of A Company of the 2nd Parachute Battalion, part of the 1st Parachute Brigade of the 1st Airborne Division. He was stationed in

Grantham Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln, England ...

, Lincolnshire, during training. His tiger hunting exploits were well known, and his reputation was enhanced as he was able to obtain the use of an American Dakota aeroplane in which he flew all the company officers in the camp to London for a party at the Ritz. A Company was then chosen by the battalion's

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 ...

, Lieutenant Colonel John Frost, to lead the 2nd Parachute Battalion in the

Battle of Arnhem The Battle of Arnhem was fought during the Second World War, as part of the Allies of World War II, Allied Operation Market Garden. It took place around the Netherlands, Dutch city of Arnhem and vicinity from 17 to 26 September 1944. The Alli ...

, part of Operation Market Garden, because of Digby's reputation of being an aggressive commander. In preparation Digby, concerned about the unreliability of radios, educated his men on how to use

bugle calls A bugle call is a short melody, tune, originating as a military Military communications, signal announcing scheduled and certain non-scheduled events on a military installation, battlefield, or ship. Historically, bugles, drums, and other loud ...

that had been used during the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

for communication in case the radios failed. He also took an umbrella with his kit as a means of identification because he had trouble remembering passwords and felt that anyone who saw him with it would think that "only a bloody fool of an Englishman" would carry an umbrella into battle. A Company was dropped away from the target of

Arnhem Bridge John Frost Bridge (''John Frostbrug'' in Dutch language, Dutch) is the road bridge over the Lower Rhine at Arnhem, in the Netherlands. The bridge was inaugurated after the end of World War II, and is named after Major-General (United Kingdom), Ma ...

and had to go through

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

, where the streets were blocked by German forces. Digby led his men through the back gardens of nearby houses instead of attempting to advance through the streets and thus avoided the Germans. Digby and A Company managed to travel 8 miles in 7 hours while also taking prisoner 150 German soldiers, including members of the SS. During the battle, Digby wore his

maroon beret The maroon beret in a military configuration has been an international symbol of airborne forces since the World War II, Second World War. It was first officially introduced by the British Army in 1942, at the direction of Major-general (Uni ...

instead of a helmet and waved his umbrella while walking about the defences despite heavy mortar fire. When the Germans started using tanks to cross the bridge, Digby led a bayonet charge against them wearing a

. He later disabled a German armoured car with his umbrella, incapacitating the driver by shoving the umbrella through the car's observational slit and poking the driver in the eye. Digby then noticed the

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

pinned down by enemy fire while trying to cross the street to get to injured soldiers. Digby got to him and said "Don't worry about the bullets, I've got an umbrella". He then escorted the chaplain across the street under his umbrella. When he returned to the front line, one of his fellow officers said about his umbrella that "that thing won't do you any good", to which Digby replied "Oh my goodness Pat, but what if it rains?" Digby was later injured by shrapnel, which also cut open the rear of his trousers, but continued to fight until A Company had run out of ammunition. Despite the radios being unreliable as Digby had predicted and the bugle calls being used most in the battle, the message "out of ammo, God save The King" was radioed out before Digby was captured. Because of his injury, Digby was sent to St Elizabeth's Hospital but escaped out of a window with his second-in-command, Captain Tony Frank, when the German nurses left them alone. After creating an escape compass from buttons on his uniform, Digby and Frank headed towards Mariendaal. Upon arriving, they were hidden by a Dutch woman who spoke no English, before being put in contact with her neighbour. He disguised them as painters and moved them to Derk Wildeboer's house. Wildeboer was a local leader of the

Dutch Resistance The Dutch resistance () to the History of the Netherlands (1939–1945), German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II can be mainly characterized as non-violent. The primary organizers were the Communist Party of the Netherlands, C ...

in Ede. They then met Menno de Nooy of the Dutch Resistance, who gave them a bicycle. Wildeboer had a fake

Dutch identity card The Dutch identity card ( ) is an official non-compulsory identity document issued to Dutch nationality law, Dutch nationals in the European part of the Netherlands and certain diplomatic missions. It has similar dimensions and structure as tho ...

made for Digby to allow him to pose as Peter Jansen, the

deaf-mute Deaf-mute is a term which was used historically to identify a person who was either deaf and used sign language or both hearing impairment, deaf and muteness, could not speak. The term continues to be used to refer to deaf people who cannot speak ...

son of a lawyer. Digby used the bicycle to visit fellow soldiers in hiding and the Germans did not recognise him despite him helping to push a Nazi staff car out of a ditch and German soldiers being billeted in the same house in which he was staying. Digby then gathered 150 escaped soldiers to head towards the front line. This was known as

Operation Pegasus Operation Pegasus was a military operation carried out on the Lower Rhine near the village of Renkum, close to Arnhem in the Netherlands. Overnight on 22–23 October 1944, Allied military forces, Britain's MI9 intelligence organisation, an ...

. Digby and the soldiers cycled to the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

and Digby flashed a V for Victory sign using

Morse Code Morse code is a telecommunications method which Character encoding, encodes Written language, text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code i ...

with his

torch A torch is a stick with combustible material at one end which can be used as a light source or to set something on fire. Torches have been used throughout history and are still used in processions, symbolic and religious events, and in juggl ...

. Members of XXX Corps then ferried them across the river. Upon return to the United Kingdom, Digby was awarded the

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 ...

. He also wrote a report on the Battle of Arnhem Bridge that resulted in Lieutenant Jack Grayburn's posthumously receiving a promotion to captain and being awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

Later life

After the war ended, Digby served in British-controlled

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

before being appointed to the 5th

King's African Rifles The King's African Rifles (KAR) was a British Colonial Auxiliary Forces regiment raised from Britain's East African colonies in 1902. It primarily carried out internal security duties within these colonies along with military service elsewher ...

British Kenya British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

in 1946, where he also bought two estates in Eburru and

Nanyuki Nanyuki is a market town in Laikipia County of Kenya lying northwest of Mount Kenya along the A2 road (Kenya), A2 road and at the terminus of the branch railway from Nairobi. The name is derived from Enyaanyukie Maasai word for resemblance. It ...

. During the

Mau Mau Uprising The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt, or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the Mau Mau, and the ...

, Digby raised a volunteer mounted police force at his own expense and led them into battle against the Mau Mau. He then retired to run his estates. He also created the concept of the modern

safari A safari (; originally ) is an overland journey to observe wildlife, wild animals, especially in East Africa. The so-called big five game, "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, African leopard, leopard, rhinoceros, African elephant, elep ...

where animals would be photographed rather than hunted. During Kenyan independence, it is reported that the British Defence staff told the

British High Commissioner In the Commonwealth of Nations, a high commissioner is the senior diplomat, generally ranking as an ambassador, in charge of the diplomatic mission of one Commonwealth government to another. Instead of an embassy, the diplomatic mission is genera ...

to "look after Tatham-Warter".

Personal life

Tatham-Warter married in 1949 Jane Boyd, daughter of Captain Roderick Bulteel Boyd (farmer in

, Kenya) and granddaughter of Arthur George Egerton, 5th Earl of Wilton, and they had three daughters and several grandchildren. Their daughter Belinda Rose Tatham-Warter (b. 1954) married in Nanyuki German aristocrat Friedrich von Oldenburg, great-grandson of Frederick Augustus II, last ruling Grand Duke of Oldenburg.Almanach de Gotha, 187th edition, ed. John Kennedy, Almanach de Gotha Ltd, 2004, pp. 282–3 Digby died in Nanyuki on 21 March 1993.

References

Bibliography

External links

1st British Airborne Division officers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tatham-Warter, Digby British Parachute Regiment officers King's African Rifles officers 1917 births 1993 deaths Operation Pegasus Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry officers British Army personnel of World War II British World War II prisoners of war British military personnel of the Mau Mau rebellion Military personnel from Shropshire