1. Douglas Gracey fought in French Indochina and was the second Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army.
15 Facts About Douglas Gracey
1. 2.
Douglas Gracey served in France from 11 January to 2 May 1915 when he was wounded.
3.
In September 1915, Douglas Gracey was appointed from the unattached list of the Indian Army into the 1st King George's Own Gurkha Rifles with the rank of second lieutenant.
4.
Douglas Gracey succeeded in leading the two companies to the objective in spite of a determined opposition, and by his untiring energy and resource was largely responsible for the success of the operation.
5.
Between the wars Douglas Gracey became an instructor at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, in 1925, commanding one of the cadet companies.
6.
At the start of the Second World War in September 1939, Douglas Gracey was commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles on the North West Frontier of India.
7.
In February 1945 Douglas Gracey had been appointed a Commander of the order of the British Empire for "gallant and distinguished services in Burma and on the Eastern Frontier of India" and in May his rank of major-general was made permanent.
8.
In July 1945, Douglas Gracey was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath, and he was mentioned in despatches.
9.
In September 1945, Douglas Gracey led 20,000 troops of the 20th Indian Division to occupy Saigon.
10.
In October 1945, as fighting spread throughout the city, Douglas Gracey issued guns to the Japanese troops who had surrendered and used them to occupy the city.
11.
Douglas Gracey was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire in January 1948 and served in the honorary capacity of Colonel Commandant of the Indian Signal Corps between March 1946 and October 1948.
12.
When British India was partitioned in 1947 Douglas Gracey became Chief of Staff in the newly created GHQ, Pakistan before succeeding Frank Messervy as the Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army in 1948.
13.
Douglas Gracey declined to send Pakistani troops to the Kashmir front as ordered by Mohammad Ali Jinnah but referred the issue to Claude Auchinleck, the Supreme Commander of Indian and Pakistani forces.
14.
Douglas Gracey left the Pakistan Army in April 1951 to retire, having attained the rank of full general.
15.
Douglas Gracey was a keen cricketer and a member of the Marylebone Cricket Club and served as Chairman of the Royal Hospital and Home for Incurables at Putney in the years before his death, which occurred on 5 June 1964, at the age of 69.