24 Facts About Henry Pownall

Henry Royds Pownall was born in London on 19 November 1887, the second son of Charles Assheton Whately Pownall and his wife, Dora Bourne Royds.

Henry Pownall's brother was Sir Assheton Pownall and his Grandfather The Ven.

Henry Pownall's father Charles Pownall was a consulting engineer with the Japanese railways, and Pownall lived in Japan from when he was three until he was eight years old.

Henry Pownall received his education at Rugby School and Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.

Henry Pownall began his military service with the Royal Horse Artillery, where he was stationed at Lucknow with U Battery.

Henry Pownall was promoted to lieutenant on 20 December 1909.

Henry Pownall was promoted to captain on 30 October 1914, and awarded the Military Cross on 1 January 1917.

Henry Pownall was Brigade Major, Royal Artillery, of the 17th Division from 12 April 1917 to 12 March 1919.

On 10 December 1918, Henry Pownall married Lucy Louttit, the widow of Captain John Gray, a British Indian Army officer of the 36th Sikhs who had been killed in the siege of Kut Al Amara in 1916.

Henry Pownall attended the Staff College, Camberley from 1920 to 1921, and then served as a brigade major at the School of Artillery in Larkhill from 1924 to 1925.

Henry Pownall continued his training and education as General Staff Officer at the Staff College, Camberley from 1926 to 1929, where he became a brevet lieutenant-colonel on 3 January 1928.

Henry Pownall attended the Imperial Defence College in 1932, and, following this, he held a series of staff appointments, serving as the Military Assistant Secretary for the Committee of Imperial Defence from 1933 to 1935, then as Deputy Secretary for the Committee of Imperial Defence in 1936.

Henry Pownall was promoted to major-general on 26 March 1938.

Britain entered the war on 3 September 1939, and the following day Henry Pownall was appointed Chief of General Staff of the British Expeditionary Force, with the acting rank of lieutenant-general.

Henry Pownall served in this capacity in France and Belgium until after the fall of France in June 1940, Henry Pownall was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 11 July 1940, and again mentioned in despatches.

Henry Pownall then assumed the position of inspector general for the recently created Home Guard and was Commander of British Troops in Northern Ireland, before being appointed the Vice Chief of the Imperial General Staff in the War Office in 1941.

Henry Pownall became commander-in-chief of the British Far East Command in South East Asia from December 1941 until 1942, which did not achieve anything of note when it was succeeded by the short-lived ABDACOM, and he became chief of staff to General Sir Archibald Wavell.

Henry Pownall had an operation to remove a kidney stone on 12 August 1944 and did not return to duty until October.

Henry Pownall handed over to Lieutenant-General Frederick Browning in December 1944.

Henry Pownall was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1945 New Year Honours on 1 January 1945, but never held another command.

Henry Pownall retired from the British Army on 8 September 1945.

Henry Pownall was the Chief Commissioner of the St John Ambulance Brigade from 1947 to 1949, and became the chancellor of the Order of St John in 1951.

Henry Pownall served as a military consultant on the writing of Churchill's The Second World War from 1948 to 1954.

Henry Pownall's papers are in the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives.