Major General Thomas Wynford Rees, (12 January 1898 – 15 October 1959) was a Welsh officer in 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 ...

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 ...

, the interwar years and 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 ...

Early life and military career

The son of the Reverend T. M. Rees, he passed out from the Officer Cadet College, Quetta and was commissioned into the

in November 1915 in the 73rd Carnatic Infantry. In September 1916, Rees was transferred to the

125th Napier's Rifles The 125th Napier's Rifles, currently known as the 5th Battalion, Rajputana Rifles was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. At various points in history it was also known as the 1st Extra Battalion Bombay Native Infantry, the 25th Regim ...

and was promoted to lieutenant a month later. During the

, Rees 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 ...

(DSO) and

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) and was

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 ...

. The citation for his DSO, published in the ''

London Gazette London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...

'' on 29 July 1919, reads: The citation for his MC, published in the ''London Gazette'' on 24 September 1918, reads:

Between the wars

Between the world wars Rees spent much of his time serving on the North West Frontier of India, being mentioned in despatches three more times. He served a term as private secretary to the Governor of Burma, Sir Charles Alexander Innes for which he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) in the 1931 New Years honours list. In December 1937 was made brevet lieutenant colonel for "distinguished services rendered in the field in connection with the operations in Waziristan, during the period 25th November, 1936, to 16th January, 1937".

Second World War

During the

, Rees fought in the East African campaign, the

North African campaign The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert campaign, Desert Wa ...

, and the

Burma campaign The Burma campaign was a series of battles fought in the British colony of British rule in Burma, Burma as part of the South-East Asian theatre of World War II. It primarily involved forces of the Allies of World War II, Allies (mainly from ...

. He was awarded a Bar to his DSO and mentioned in despatches twice. As head staff officer of the 4th Indian Infantry Division (GSO1), Rees organised the division's highly successful action during

Operation Compass Operation Compass (also ) was the first large British military operation of the Western Desert Campaign (1940–1943) during the Second World War. British metropolitan, Imperial and Commonwealth forces attacked the Italian and Libyan forces of ...

in the Western Desert in 1940. The division then played a key role in defeating the Italian imperial forces in

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

during the East African Campaign during which time he was promoted to command Indian 10th Infantry brigade, part of Indian 5th Infantry Division which was fighting alongside 4th Indian Division. 10th Brigade played a leading role in the Battle of Keren, the decisive battle of the campaign. The British Army in Burma 1945 SE3530

The 5th Indian Division left East Africa in March 1941 spending periods in Iraq, Egypt and Cyprus. In March 1942, Rees was promoted acting major general to command 10th Indian Infantry Division, which was at the time in Iraq. Two months later the division was sent to the Western Desert to reinforce the Eighth Army. The British Army in Burma 1945 SE3465

Controversially, during the Eighth Army's retreat from the

Battle of Gazala The Battle of Gazala, also the Gazala Offensive (Italian language, Italian: ''Battaglia di Ain el-Gazala'') was fought near the village of Gazala during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, west of the port of Tobruk in Libya, f ...

, Rees was relieved of command of the division by his corps commander Lieutenant General William Gott. The division, having been employed piecemeal during the battle, was ordered to consolidate near Mersa Matruh on the Egyptian border and hold off the Axis advance for 72 hours. Rees responded that the division had only just come together and that defensive works were still inadequate. He therefore doubted the division's ability to hold off a full-scale attack despite the addition of an extra brigade (2nd Free French Brigade). Gott told Rees he lacked resolution for the job and sacked him. General

Claude Auchinleck Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck ( ) (21 June 1884 – 23 March 1981), was a British Indian Army commander who saw active service during the world wars. A career soldier who spent much of his militar ...

, the C-in-C, doubting that Rees was irresolute (but obliged to support his senior commander) gave Rees the job of organising the defence of Cairo in case of an Axis breakthrough. Shortly thereafter Rees's fears were confirmed when the 10th Indian Division's position was overrun. When the Axis threat to Cairo faded, Rees was sent back to India. In the autumn of 1942 Rees was appointed to command Indian 19th Infantry Division. Although the division was not sent to the front line in Burma until November 1944, from this date until the end of the war it was in continuous action, gaining a formidable reputation for itself and Rees, who was seen as one of the army's most offensively-minded generals. His army commander, General Sir William Slim, was later to write:

Post-war

From 1945 to 1947 Rees commanded the Indian 4th Infantry Division and from August to September 1947, he commanded the neutral Punjab Boundary Force tasked to maintain law and order in the Punjab which was to be divided during the transfer of power to India and Pakistan. The force was too small to control such a large area, particularly since the police forces either disintegrated or became polarised. Despite the Boundary Force's best efforts full-scale riots and massacres took place. The scrupulous neutrality shown by Rees's force brought serious criticism from the politicians of both sides and it was disbanded in early September 1947, two weeks after

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

. Rees has also been criticised for refusing to heed the advice of "Military Advisors" and "Alternate Military Advisors" from the Indian and Pakistani sides on the grounds that they were junior to him. Promoted to the permanent rank of major-general in 1947, Rees took the job as head of the Military Committee of the Indian Emergency Cabinet until he retired from the army in 1948. Rees was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

on 15 January 1955.

Personal life

Rees was married in 1926 t
Agatha Rosalie Innes
only daughter of Sir Charles Alexander Innes, a career India Civil Service officer and Governor of Burma from 1927 to 1932. They had one son, the Cabinet minister Peter Wyford Innes Rees (later Lord Rees), and one daughter. John Masters noted in one of his autobiographies ( The Road Past Mandalay) that Pete Rees was an abstinent (he "spoke softly, never swore, never drank, did not smoke." but also, "always wore a small kind smile"). According to Masters, Rees was a

polyglot Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

and spoke English, Welsh, "...Urdu, Marathi, Pushtu, Burmese, and Tamil. Now he asked me to teach him Gurkhali, and soon he knew enough to cause a look of startled pleasure to cross many a stolid Gurung face." Masters also said of Rees that he had a "rare, personal gentleness and unfailing good manners".

Military career

* Passed out from Officer Cadet College, Quetta and commissioned 2nd lieutenant into the Indian Army unattached list (1915) * Attached to 73rd Carnatic Infantry (1915) * Attached to

(later 5th (Napier's) battalion

6th Rajputana Rifles The 6th Rajputana Rifles was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. Formed in 1921, it initially consisted of five active battalions and one training battalion. History Formation and class composition In 1921, the British Indian Army ...

) * Awarded DSO while in Egypt – (1919) * Staff Captain in Wazir Force,

Waziristan Waziristan (Persian language, Persian, Pashto, Ormuri, , ) is a mountainous region of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Waziristan region administratively splits among three districts: North Waziristan, Lower South Waziristan Dis ...

– (1922–1925) * Staff Officer (Intelligence) (GSO3), India – (1925–1926) * Instructor,

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 ...

– (1926–1928) * Private Secretary to Governor of

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

– (1928–1930) * Attended

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 ...

(1931–1932) *Promoted to major (November 1933) * Staff Officer (GSO3), India – (1934) * Waziristan, North West Frontier,

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 ...

– (1935–1937) * Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General, India – (1936–1937) * Appointed brevet lieutenant-colonel for "distinguished services in the field ...in Waziristan during the period 25 November 1936 and 16 January 1937" – (1937)) * General Staff Officer Grade 2,

District, North West Frontier,

– (1937–1938) * Commanding Officer, 3rd Battalion,

– (1938–1939) * General Staff Officer 1, Indian 4th Infantry Division, North Africa and

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

– (1940–1941) * Commanding Officer, 10th Indian Brigade, Sudan – (1941–1942) * General Officer Commanding, Indian 10th Infantry Division, Middle East – North Africa – (1942) * General Officer Commanding, Indian 19th Infantry Division,

– (1942–1945) * Permanent rank advanced to Colonel. * General Officer Commanding, Indian 4th Infantry Division – (1945–1947) * General Officer Commanding, Punjab Boundary Force,

– (1947) * Head Military Emergency Staff to Emergency Committee of Cabinet, India – (1947) * Retired – (1948)

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * *

External links

"Burma Turnabout" from Time Magazine, 1945
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, Thomas Wynford 1898 births 1959 deaths Indian Army generals of World War II Indian Army personnel of World War I Companions of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Military Cross Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Deputy lieutenants of Monmouthshire Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Military personnel from Cardiff Academics of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst British Indian Army generals