Major-General Justice Crosland Tilly DSO MC (27 January 1888 – 5 January 1941) 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 commanded the 2nd Armoured Division during the early stages of 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 ...

Military career

Born in

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

in January 1888, and coming from a military family, Tilly was commissioned into the Leicestershire Regiment (later the

Royal Leicestershire Regiment The Leicestershire Regiment (Royal Leicestershire Regiment after 1946) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, with a history going back to 1688. The regiment saw service for three centuries, in numerous wars and conflicts such as both ...

) on 12 November 1907. His service in the years prior to

World War I 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 ...

were spent with the

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 East Africa East Africa Protectorate (also known as British East Africa) was a British protectorate in the African Great Lakes, occupying roughly the same area as present-day Kenya, from the Indian Ocean inland to the border with Uganda in the west. Cont ...

.Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> During the war he served on the Western Front with the

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a Regiment, corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in the World War I, First World War. Th ...

, being wounded,

mentioned in dispatches 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 ...

, and being awarded both 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 ...

and 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 ...

. The citation for his DSO reads: Remaining in the army during the difficult

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

, he married in 1919 before transferring to the

West Yorkshire Regiment The West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) (14th Foot) was an infantry regiment of the British Army. In 1958 it amalgamated with the East Yorkshire Regiment (15th Foot) to form the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire which was ...

, with which he served on the North West Frontier of

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 ...

until 1924. After transferring again, this time to the Royal Tank Corps (later the

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 World War I, First World War. Today, it is an Armoured warfare, armoured regiment equipped with Challenger 2 main battle tanks ...

) in 1927, he attended the

Senior Officers' School, Sheerness The Senior Officers' School was a British military establishment formed in 1916 by Brigadier-General R. J. Kentish for the training of Commonwealth senior officers of all services in inter-service cooperation. It was created as part of a wider ...

in 1931. After commanding the 5th Battalion, Tank Corps in 1934 he became Chief Instructor at the Royal Tank Corps Central School in

Bovington Bovington Camp () is a British Army military base in Dorset, South West England. Together with Lulworth Camp it forms part of Bovington Garrison. The garrison is home to The Armour Centre and contains two barracks complexes and two forest and ...

in 1935 and then Chief Instructor of the Gunnery Wing at the Armoured Fighting Vehicles School at Lulworth in 1937. Tilly went on to be Commander of the 1st Tank Brigade from 1938 to 1939 and then served in the

. In May 1940 he was promoted to major general and made

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 2nd Armoured Division, holding this post until he was killed in a motor accident in January 1941, after his division had been sent to

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

. He left behind a widow and a daughter.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Generals of World War IILives of the First World War
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tilly, Justice 1888 births 1941 deaths British Army generals of World War II Royal Leicestershire Regiment officers Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Military Cross British Army personnel of World War I British Army personnel killed in World War II British Army major generals Military personnel from Bedford Machine Gun Corps officers