Victor Fortune
Sir Victor Morven Fortune was a senior officer of the British Army. He saw service in both World War I and World War II. He commanded the 51st Infantry Division during the Battle of France and was subsequently trapped and obliged to surrender to the Germans on 12 June 1940.Military career
Fortune was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Black Watch in 1903 and served in the First World War as Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, Black Watch from 1916 and Commander of the 46th Brigade from 1918.
After attending the Staff College, Camberley from 1920 to 1921, he became CO of the 1st Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders in 1927 and Commander of the 5th Infantry Brigade in 1930. He became General Officer Commanding of the 52nd Infantry Division in 1935 and GOC of the 51st Infantry Division in 1937.
The 51st Division remained in France after the general evacuation from Dunkirk, having been assigned to the French IX Corps. After naval evacuation proved impossible and supplies of ammunition had been exhausted, Major-General Fortune was forced to surrender the greater part of the Highland Division at St Valery en Caux.
Fortune spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of war. As senior British officer in captivity in Germany, he worked to improve the conditions of the men under his command. He suffered a stroke in 1944 but refused repatriation. He was finally liberated in April 1945 and made KBE shortly after.
Several British writers have questioned the decision to remain with the French during the battle. However, General Charles de Gaulle stated, 'For my part, I can say that the comradeship of arms, sealed on the battlefield of Abbeville in May–June 1940, between the French armoured division, which I had the honour to command, and the gallant 51st Scottish Division under General Fortune, played its part in the decision which I made to continue the fight at the side of the Allies, to the end, come what may'. And he concluded by quoting the old motto of the Garde Ecossaise: omni modo fidelis - faithful in every way.
