47 Facts About Gerald Templer

Field Marshal Sir Gerald Walter Robert Templer was a senior British Army officer.

Gerald Templer fought in both the world wars and took part against the Arab Resistance in Palestine.

Gerald Templer is credited as a founder of the United Kingdom's National Army Museum.

Gerald Templer is best known for implementing strategies that heavily contributed to the defeat of the Malayan National Liberation Army during the Malayan Emergency.

Gerald Templer oversaw, ordered, and personally approved of many controversial policies and numerous atrocities committed by his troops.

Gerald Walter Robert Templer was born on 11 September 1898 at 15 Wellesley Road, in Colchester, Essex, the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Walter Francis Templer, of the Royal Irish Fusiliers, and Mabel Eileen Templer.

Gerald Templer was promoted to lieutenant on 16 February 1918.

Gerald Templer returned to the battalion, now composed of mainly teenagers, and fought with it in the Hundred Days Offensive, which saw the war turn in favour of the Allies and eventually resulted in the Armistice with Germany being signed and the war ending on 11 November 1918.

Gerald Templer was considerably lucky during the war, having not been wounded, although, as with many others of his generation, it left its mark on him in other ways.

In January 1925 the battalion again returned to Egypt, where it remained until October 1927 when it was sent to India, although Gerald Templer did not accompany them.

Gerald Templer later became a General Staff Officer Grade 3 with the 3rd Division on Salisbury Plain in 1931.

Gerald Templer was promoted to major on 1 August 1938 and posted to the War Office as a GSO2 at the Directorate of Military Intelligence in October.

At the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 Gerald Templer was an acting lieutenant-colonel, and, on 4 September, the day after war was declared, he was chosen to be one of two GSO1s to the DMI of the British Expeditionary Force, Major-General Noel Mason-MacFarlane, replacing the original choice, Kenneth Strong.

The German Army attacked in the West on 10 May 1940, although Gerald Templer himself was then on leave but was back in France and discovered Mason-MacFarlane was in Brussels, with the intelligence staff moving behind him but was a long distance from GHQ BEF, resulting in poor communications.

The battalion was to be based around a small cadre of Regular soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, Royal Sussex who, like Gerald Templer, had recently returned from France, and the rest of the battalion was to consist of newly called up conscripts, most of whom were in their late twenties with no previous military experience.

The task was made more difficult by the lack of rifles and other necessary equipment but Gerald Templer tried his best to train his men instil in them a regimental pride.

Captain Michael Joseph, a company commander in the 9th Battalion, Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment, part of the 210th Brigade, claimed Gerald Templer "understood the difficulties and the problems of the platoon commander, which is more than can be said of some others".

Gerald Templer was promoted to substantive colonel on 6 October 1941, with seniority from 1 July.

Gerald Templer became General Officer Commanding of the 47th Infantry Division, based in Winchester, Hampshire as an acting major-general on 10 April 1942, serving under V Corps.

Gerald Templer did not remain there for much longer as, in September 1942, he was promoted to become GOC II Corps as the British Army's youngest acting lieutenant-general.

Gerald Templer became GOC of the 1st Infantry Division, which had come under his command while he was GOC II Corps, on 31 July 1943.

On 10 October 1943, Major-General Douglas Graham, the GOC of the 56th Infantry Division, then fighting in Italy, was seriously injured when his jeep tumbled into a shell crater and Gerald Templer was ordered to Italy to replace him.

In February 1944, the division, now under US VI Corps, fought in the Battle of Anzio where Gerald Templer temporarily commanded the British 1st Infantry Division after the GOC, Major-General Ronald Penney, was wounded by shellfire.

Gerald Templer was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 24 August 1944 in recognition of his services in Italy.

In late July 1944, Gerald Templer briefly became GOC 6th Armoured Division before being severely injured by a land mine in August, after being GOC for twelve days.

Gerald Templer was mentioned in dispatches on 8 November 1945 in recognition of his services in North West Europe.

On 17 October 1946, Gerald Templer was awarded the Legion of Merit in the Degree of Commander by the President of the United States for his conduct during the war.

Gerald Templer was appointed a Commander of the Order of Leopold II of Belgium and Croix de guerre and a Grand Officer of the Order of Orange Nassau of the Netherlands with Swords.

Gerald Templer served as Deputy Chief of Staff for the British Element of the Allied Control Commission for Germany after the Second World War, for which he was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the King's Birthday Honours 1946.

Gerald Templer first came to public notice in 1945 while acting as Director of the Military Government in the British Zone of Germany, when he fired the mayor of Cologne, Konrad Adenauer, for "laziness and inefficiency".

Gerald Templer became Director of Military Intelligence at the War Office in March 1946, then Vice Chief of the Imperial General Staff in February 1948.

Gerald Templer was promoted to general on 4 June 1950, advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the King's Birthday Honours 1951, and appointed Aide-de-Camp General to the King on 30 August 1951.

Gerald Templer became a Knight of the Venerable Order of Saint John.

Gerald Templer instituted incentive schemes for rewarding surrendering rebels and those who encouraged them to surrender and used strict curfews and tight control of food supplies to force compliance from rebellious areas to flush out guerillas.

In private correspondences with Colonial Secretary Oliver Lyttleton, Gerald Templer defended the practice of British troops employing Dayak headhunters to cut the heads off suspected MNLA guerillas.

Gerald Templer was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George for his work as High Commissioner in the Coronation Honours List in June 1953.

In 1952 the poet Randall Swingler wrote a poem about Gerald Templer titled "The Ballad of Herod Gerald Templer".

Advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the Queen's Birthday Honours 1955, Gerald Templer was appointed Chief of the Imperial General Staff on 29 September 1955.

Gerald Templer was promoted to field marshal on 27 November 1956 and retired on 29 September 1958.

Gerald Templer was appointed Colonel of the Royal Irish Fusiliers from 1946, Colonel of the Malay Federation Regiment from 1954, Colonel of the 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles from 25 May 1956, Colonel of the Royal Horse Guards from 1963 and Colonel of the Blues and Royals from 1969.

In retirement Gerald Templer focused on his main passion which was establishing the National Army Museum in London, who have named their library, archive and reading room as "The Gerald Templer Study Centre" in his honour.

Gerald Templer appointed a Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter on 16 September 1963 and Constable of the Tower on 1 August 1965.

Gerald Templer chaired a committee of the rationalisation of air power in 1965 and was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Greater London on 28 December 1966.

Gerald Templer died of lung cancer at his home in Chelsea on 25 October 1979.

In 1981 the Society for Army Historical Research established the Gerald Templer Medal, awarded annually to the author of the book published during that year that has made the most significant contribution to the history of the British Army, to commemorate Gerald Templer's life and achievements and to mark his presidency of the Society between 1965 and 1979.

Gerald Templer had first met her in 1921, and again in 1924, and they were engaged after 10 days.

Lady Gerald Templer was one of the co-founders of the Commonwealth Society for the Deaf, now Sound Seekers.