16 Facts About Gerard Bucknall

Gerard Bucknall was born on 14 September 1894 in Rock Ferry, Cheshire, England, the son of Harry Corfield Bucknall and Alice Frederica, daughter of Thomas William Oakshott, JP, of Derby House, Rock Ferry.

Gerard Bucknall was educated at Repton School and West Downs School.

Gerard Bucknall then returned to the 1st Middlesex and remained with the battalion until he attended the Staff College, Camberley from 1928 to 1929.

Gerard Bucknall was promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel on 1 January 1936, and attended the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.

Gerard Bucknall returned to the United Kingdom in 1939 and became CO of the 2nd Battalion, Middlesex Regiment.

Gerard Bucknall was still in this post by the outbreak of the Second World War, in September 1939, by the time the British Expeditionary Force left for France.

Gerard Bucknall then commanded the 138th Infantry Brigade and, promoted to acting major general on 29 July 1941, was appointed General Officer Commanding 53rd Infantry Division, taking over from Major General Bevil Wilson.

Gerard Bucknall was promoted to the acting rank of lieutenant general on 12 September 1942 and succeeded Lieutenant General John Crocker as GOC XI Corps in East Anglia.

Gerard Bucknall held this command until April 1943 when he succeeded Lieutenant General Frederick Morgan as GOC of I Corps, which was earmarked as an assault formation for the invasion of Normandy.

Gerard Bucknall was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 2 June 1943.

Gerard Bucknall led the division during the final stages of the campaign in Sicily, followed in September by the Allied invasion of Italy and in the early stages of the Italian campaign, including in the First Battle of Monte Cassino in January 1944.

The Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, believed Gerard Bucknall to be unsuitable for command at that level.

Montgomery conceded that it had been a mistake to appoint him and, in November 1944, Gerard Bucknall revert to his permanent rank of major general and was given command of Northern Ireland, a post he held until his retirement from the army on 4 March 1948.

Gerard Bucknall was granted the honorary rank of lieutenant general.

In 1952 Gerard Bucknall was given the colonelcy of the Middlesex Regiment, a position he held until 1959.

Gerard Bucknall died at the age of 86 on 7 December 1980 in a nursing home in Chegworth.