Major General Hubert Essame, (24 December 1896 – 2 March 1976) 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 who fought in the

First 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 ...

and

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 ...

s. He was also a military lecturer, historian and broadcaster.

Military career

Born on 24 December 1896, Hubert Essame was the son of Ernest H. Essame of Wokingham. He was educated at

Nottingham High School Nottingham High School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private fee-charging day school for boys and girls in Nottingham, England, with an infant and junior school (ages 4–11) and senior school (ages 11–18). There were 1177 stu ...

. Essame joined the

during 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 ...

as a volunteer in 1915, and enlisted into the 2nd Battalion,

Northamptonshire Regiment The Northamptonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1960. In 1960, it was amalgamated with the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment to form the 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's O ...

. He first saw active service on the Western Front in May 1916, and on 2 October he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Northamptonshire Regiment. He was wounded twice over the course of the war,

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

in December 1917, and 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 ...

(MC) in July 1918. The citation for the medal reads: In November 1924, Essame was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. Between 1926 and 1929 he served as adjutant in the Auxiliary Forces 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 ...

, before attending the

Staff College, Quetta The Command and Staff College Quetta is a staff college for the Pakistan Armed Forces and military officers from allied countries. Established in 1905 as Staff College, Deolali, it was later shifted to its present location in 1907 and has been a ...

, from 1929 to 1930. In 1934 he served as a

staff officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large milita ...

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 ...

and with various Territorial Army units. In 1941, during the

, Essame became

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 ...

of the 1st Battalion,

East Lancashire Regiment The East Lancashire Regiment was, from 1881 to 1958, a Line infantry, line infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot and 59t ...

. Relinquishing command of the battalion, he was promoted to

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 ...

in September 1942 and became commander of the 214th Infantry Brigade, leading the brigade in fighting in northern Europe. He 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 ...

in October 1944. In June 1945, a month after the end of the war in Europe, he briefly served as

General Officer Commanding General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (and some other nations, such as Ireland) to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC ...

(GOC) of the

43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division The 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division was an infantry Division (military), division of Britain's Territorial Army (United Kingdom), Territorial Army (TA). The division was first formed in 1908, as the Wessex Division. During the World War I, First ...

in place of the original GOC, Major General Ivor Thomas. Essame was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in October 1945. Between 1946 and 1949, Essame was President of the

Regular Commissions Board Army Officer Selection Board (AOSB) is an assessment centre used by the British Army as part of the Military officer, officer selection process for the regular army and Territorial Army (United Kingdom), Army Reserve and related scholarship sche ...

, before retiring from the army with the rank of major general on 24 June 1949.

Other work

Following his retirement from the army, Essame worked as a military historian. He was a lecturer in military history at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, and published several books and articles. He was an advisor to television producers for military programmes.

Publications

*''The 43rd Wessex Division at War'' (1952) *''The North West Europe campaign, 1944–1945'' (1962) *''The Battle for Normandy'' (1965) *''The Battle for Germany'' (1969) *''Normandy Bridgehead'' (1971) *''Battle for Europe, 1918'' (1972) *''Patton the Commander'' (1974) *''Corps Commander'' (1977)

References

External links

British Army Officers 1939–1945
{{DEFAULTSORT:Essame, Hubert 1896 births 1976 deaths Military personnel from Exeter People from Exeter Academics of King's College London British Army major generals British Army personnel of World War I British Army brigadiers of World War II British military historians British military writers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Graduates of the Staff College, Quetta Northamptonshire Regiment officers Northamptonshire Regiment soldiers People educated at Nottingham High School Recipients of the Military Cross