Major General William Donovan Stamer CB,

CBE 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 ...

, DSO, MC (14 June 1895 – 21 September 1963) 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 was commissioned into the

North Staffordshire Regiment The North Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was in existence between 1881 and 1959. The 64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot was created on 21 April 1758 from the 2nd Battali ...

at the outbreak of 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 ...

and served in the Army until retirement in 1948, finishing his career with the temporary rank of major-general and serving 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 ...

Sudan and Eritrea.

Early life

Stamer was born in

Keele Keele is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is approximately west of Newcastle-under-Lyme, and is close to the village of Silverdale. Keele lies on the A53 road from Newcastle to ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, the eldest son and third child of the Reverend Frederick Stamer and Ethel Donovan. His paternal grandfather was the 3rd Baronet Stamer,

Lovelace Stamer The Right Reverend Sir Lovelace Tomlinson Stamer, 3rd Baronet, VD (18 October 182929 October 1908) was the first Anglican Bishop of Shrewsbury in the modern era. Early life and education Lovelace Stamer was born in York into an Anglo-Irish nobl ...

. After being educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

, Stamer attended 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 ...

and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the

on 19 August 1914 (just two weeks after Great Britain declared war on Germany), although this was subsequently backdated to 8 August 1914.

First World War

Stamer joined the 1st Battalion of the North Staffordshire Regiment on the Western Front, then serving as part of the 17th Brigade of the 6th Division, in November 1914 and was promoted 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 ...

in December 1914. After a period as an

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad range of sk ...

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 ...

, Stamer was promoted to captain in March 1917. In November 1917 he 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 ...

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

Sir Douglas Haig Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig (; 19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior officer of the British Army. During the First World War he commanded the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front from late 1915 until t ...

, Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front, and about the same time was appointed the battalion

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

. Stamer was still the battalion adjutant when the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

launched its Spring Offensive in March 1918. On the first day of the offensive the battalion headquarters position was overrun and Stamer led a rearguard action despite during which he was wounded in the head. For his actions on that day 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 ...

, the citation read: It was July before he returned to duty and in September he was appointed as

second-in-command Second-in-command (2i/c or 2IC) is a title denoting that the holder of the title is the second-highest authority within a certain organisation. Usage In the British Army or Royal Marines, the second-in-command is the deputy commander of a unit, f ...

of the battalion with the rank of acting

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 ...

. In the closing weeks of the war Stamer assumed command of the battalion when, during the

Battle of the Selle The Battle of the Selle (17–25 October 1918) took place between Allied forces and the German Army, fought during the Hundred Days Offensive of World War I. Prelude After the Second Battle of Cambrai, the Allies advanced almost and liberat ...

, the

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) was severely wounded and continued to command the battalion until the

Armistice with Germany {{Short description, none This is a list of armistices signed by the German Empire (1871–1918) or Nazi Germany (1933–1945). An armistice is a temporary agreement to cease hostilities. The period of an armistice may be used to negotiate a peace t ...

and after, being appointed an acting (later temporary) lieutenant colonel.

Between the wars

In 1920, Captain Stamer was seconded for service with the

Egyptian Army The Egyptian Army (), officially the Egyptian Ground Forces (), is the land warfare branch (and largest service branch) of the Egyptian Armed Forces. Until the declaration of the Republic and the abolishment of the monarchy on 18 June 1953, it w ...

until 1925, from 1925 until 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, ...

and it was not until 1930 that he rejoined the North Staffords. From 1933 to 1936 he was officer commanding the regimental depot at Lichfield and was promoted to Major in 1933 From the depot he joined the regiment's 2nd Battalion who were, in 1937, in

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William Robb. On Christmas Day 1937, Stamer was commander of a small force comprising two

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether natural, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specifi ...

of his own battalion and a company of the 1st Battalion,

Border Regiment The Border Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot and the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot. After service in ...

on operations against Arab raiders from Syria. Stamer's force came under fire and in an engagement that lasted most of the day Stamer's men inflicted 25 to 30 casualties upon their enemies while suffering less casualties themselves. Stamer was awarded the DSO for his leadership during the engagement, and the citation read A further Mention in Despatches also arose from Stamer's involvement in the operations in Palestine during 1937–1938. Stamer was promoted to Lt-Col in December 1938 and appointed to command 1st Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment, then stationed in India as part of the Poona Independent Brigade.

Second World War

By late 1940 Stamer was seconded from command of the 1st Battalion and moved to an appointment within

Middle East Command Middle East Command, later Middle East Land Forces, was a British Army Command established prior to the Second World War in Egypt. Its primary role was to command British land forces and co-ordinate with the relevant naval and air commands to ...

. Made an acting

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

he was area commander for Sollum and later Benghazi, work which resulted in him being made 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 ...

(CBE) in July 1941. The citation read: A temporary Colonel from May 1941, later in the year Stamer had assumed command of 161st Infantry Brigade (later

161st Indian Infantry Brigade The 161st Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. As part of the arrangements for the independence and partition of British India the brigade was allocated to India and became the 161st Infa ...

) then on garrison duties in Cyprus with the rank of temporary

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 ...

. This was a short lived command as in May 1942 he was appointed command of 1st

Brigade. A further move followed shortly and Stamer was appointed to command 131st Infantry Brigade and led it 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 ...

. Later in the war Stamer was Mentioned in Despatches for a third time.

Post war

Following the end of the war, Stamer was appointed to the post of General Officer Commanding British Troops in Sudan and Eritrea, with the acting rank of Major-General. A further honour upon him in the same year was to be appointed

Colonel of the Regiment Colonel (Col) is a rank of the British Army and Royal Marines, ranking below Brigadier (United Kingdom), brigadier, and above Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom), lieutenant colonel. British colonels are not usually field commanders; typically ...

for the North Staffordshire Regiment, a post he held for 10 years. In 1947 he was honoured by the American government with the award of

Officer of the Legion of Merit 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 ...

and a year later was appointed a

Companion of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior military officers or senior civil servants, and the monarch awards it on the advice of His ...

. A final substantive promotion to the substantive rank of Brigadier followed in March 1948, before he retired in November 1948 with the honorary rank of Major-General.

References

Notes

Sources

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External links

Generals of World War II
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Stamer, William Donovan 1895 births 1963 deaths British Army generals of World War II British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel of the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of the Bath Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst North Staffordshire Regiment officers Officers of the Legion of Merit People educated at Rugby School People from Keele Recipients of the Military Cross Sudan Defence Force officers British Army major generals Military personnel from Staffordshire