BRITISH LEADER

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24956, 27 July 1944, Page 6

BRITISH LEADER

ARMY IN NORMANDY GENERAL DEMPSEY'S RISE Named recently as the commander of Hie Second Army, which comprises the British wing of the invasion forces in Normandy, Lieutenant-General Sir Miles Christopher Dempsey has hitherto been little known in Britain or the Empire. And yet his career lias been meteoric since this war started and he has so many of the attributes of a notable general that lie promises to hecomo one of the famous commanders of the present conilict. "When war broke out General Dempsey was a lieutenant-colonel, only two steps above the acting rank of captain which he held in the last war. Then he was wounded and won the Military Cross. Promotion Early in War However, his abilities were sufficiently apparent for him to receive promotion as soon its Britain began to mobilise her forces for war in 1939. Jji November of that year he was promoted to actingbrigadier and given command of an infantry brigade of the Royal Berkshires. He led these troops throughout the campaign in Belgium and France. By June, 3911, Guneral Dempsey had become an acting-major-general in command of a British armoured division. By December, 1912, he had received the promotion which clinched his career. He was promoted acting-lieutenant-general and given the Thirteenth Corps, part, of the British Eighth Army in Africa. It was that part to which the New Zealand Division belonged. Under Montgomery's Eye

The appointment put General Dempsey directly under the eye of General .Montgomery, lie reacted so well to his tremendous responsibilities that., as the Thirteenth Corps fought, from the Western Desert to the Mareth Line and then through Fnfidaville and Sicily and up the toe of Italy, General Dempsey gradually become known as a tactician, comparable with the great Montgomery himself.

It was General Montgomery who was instrumental in having General Dempsey returned to England for an invasion post. Even then, however, and even although by satisfying General• Montgomery .lie had satisfied a notably exacting taskmaster, his appointment to, the Second Army cam.e as a military sensation.* He wa*« only 47 —he actually looks five years younger—and to reach the command of this army ho had by-passed many ; a senior and better-known general. Combined Operations Expert Dejnpsey is tall, slim, has a slight moustache and is reported t-o be very shy, A fellow officer's description of him is: "One of tho most delightful men I've ever met. Frightfully efficient but never fusses. He has 110 airs, but there's no mistaking his authority. He's a magnificent map reader and can make terrain appear before your eyes, describing it perfectly although he's never been there." , In addition to his work as commander of the Thirteenth Corps, General DempSev made a reputation for himself in the Mediterranean as the Eighth Army's expert in .combined operations. Before going to Normandy he had made at least nine different landings. In one operation, at Termoli, on the Adriatic; coast, he sprang such a surprise that he almost caught General Ueidrich, the German pnratroop commander, in bed. Heidrich escaped in his pyjamas.