Roy Urquhart
Robert Elliott "Roy" Urquhart CB DSO was a British Army officer who saw service during World War II and Malayan Emergency. He became prominent for his role as General Officer Commanding of the 1st Airborne Division which fought with great distinction, although suffering very severe casualties, in the Battle of Arnhem during Operation Market Garden in September 1944.
Early life and military career
Roy Urquhart was born in Shepperton, Middlesex, England, the son of a Scottish dentist, on 28 November 1901. He was educated at St Paul's School, London, and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Highland Light Infantry on 24 December 1920. Promoted on 24 December 1922 to lieutenant, and on 26 March 1929 to captain, Urquhart served initially with the 1st Battalion, HLI. Urquhart, when stationed in Malta with the 2nd Battalion, which from 1933 to 1936 he served as an adjutant, became a friend of the actor David Niven, who recalled Urquhart in his autobiography The Moon's a Balloon, describing him as "a serious soldier of great charm and warmth". Urquhart attended the Staff College, Camberley from 1936 to 1937 and, after graduating from Camberley, he returned to his regiment's 2nd Battalion, then commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Horatio Berney-Ficklin and serving in Palestine during the Arab revolt. While there Urquhart was promoted on 1 August 1938 to major, and in October he was sent to India as a staff officer, in May 1939 becoming Deputy Assistant Quartermaster-General to Army HQ, India.World War II
Urquhart was serving in India during the early years of the Second World War. He remained there until 1941, when he was posted to North Africa before an appointment as a staff officer in the 3rd Infantry Division, serving in the United Kingdom. Thereafter, his career accelerated. Between 1941 and 1942 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and commanded the 2nd Battalion, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry until 1942, when he was appointed as a staff officer in the 51st Infantry Division, which was then stationed in North Africa and commanded by Major General Douglas Wimberley. For a short time, he commanded the 231st Infantry Brigade Group, which saw action in the Allied invasion of Sicily, later the Allied invasion of Italy, before returning to England.Arnhem
Until 1944, Urquhart was a senior staff officer in XII Corps. However, in that year, he was given command of the 1st Airborne Division. Its former commander had been killed in the early stages of the Italian Campaign, and his successor, Brigadier Ernest Down had been given command of the 44th Indian Airborne Division in India. Urquhart was prone to airsickness and had never commanded or, for that matter, been a member of an airborne unit. Although a newcomer to airborne operations, Urquhart commanded his division during Operation Market Garden in September 1944 as it was dropped into Arnhem in the Netherlands in an attempt to secure a crossing over the River Rhine. For nine days Urquhart's division fought unsupported against armoured units of II SS Panzer Corps. Suffering increasingly heavy casualties, the British airborne forces desperately held on to an ever-shrinking defensive perimeter until orders were received for the remnants of the division to withdraw across the Rhine on 25 September. During these nine days of heavy fighting the 1st Airborne Division had lost over three-quarters of its strength. Shattered as a fighting formation, the division was withdrawn to the United Kingdom and saw no further action in the Second World War. Urquhart was awarded the Dutch Bronze Lion for his command.Norway
In May 1945, following the German surrender, Urquhart led a reconstituted 1st Airborne Division as the advanced guard of Force 134 in Operation Doomsday, the Allied occupation of Norway. During its time in Norway, the division was tasked with supervising the surrender of the German forces, as well as preventing the sabotage of vital military and civilian facilities. Due to delays in troop arrivals, Urquhart ended up driving into Oslo in a captured German staff car, accompanied only by four military policemen and two platoons from 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment. Until the arrival of other units from Force 134, as well as the Headquarters of Allied Forces, Norway, Major General Urquhart and his headquarters staff had complete control over all Norwegian activities. This meant that it was Urquhart who welcomed Crown Prince Olaf of Norway and three ministers representing the Norwegian Government when they arrived on a Royal Navy cruiser. General Thorne arrived on 13 May to take command of all Allied troops in Norway and at the end of August, 1st Airborne Division returned to the United Kingdom and disbanded. Urquhart was rewarded with the Norwegian Order of St Olav.Post-war service
Following the end of the war Urquhart became Director of the Territorial Army and Army Cadet Force at the War Office in 1945, General Officer Commanding the Territorial Army 16th Airborne Division in 1947 and General Officer Commanding the 51st/52nd Scottish Division until 1950 when he was appointed as the General Officer Commanding Malaya during the Malayan Emergency. He retired from the army in 1955.Later life
After leaving the British Army Urquhart became an executive in the heavy engineering industry, retiring in 1970.Urquhart was portrayed by Sean Connery in the 1977 film A Bridge Too Far, for which he himself served as a military consultant.
Urquhart and his wife Pamela had four children, among them Elspeth Campbell and Suki Urquhart, author of The Scottish Gardener, third wife of Keith Schellenberg.
In his memoirs, Campbell says that Urquhart told Elspeth's first husband, Philip Grant-Suttie, "there's no need to be formal; just call me General", and that he also insisted on tasting all the food and champagne for Elspeth and Menzies' wedding before paying for it.
Major General Urquhart died on 13 December 1988, aged 87 years.