16 Facts About Horatio Berney-Ficklin

Horatio Berney-Ficklin had a younger brother, Alexander Tennent Mackintosh, born on 10 May 1895.

Horatio Berney-Ficklin was confirmed in his rank of second lieutenant on 26 February 1913.

Horatio Berney-Ficklin was awarded the Military Cross on 5 June 1916 and was promoted to temporary major on 1 July, the first day of the Somme offensive in which his division played a significant role, notably on 1 July.

In March 1918, during the German Army's Spring Offensive, Horatio Berney-Ficklin was wounded and taken prisoner.

Horatio Berney-Ficklin was promoted to brevet major on 5 January 1921.

Horatio Berney-Ficklin joined the Army Reserve of Officers and in January 1929 was promoted to lieutenant colonel and assumed command of the 5th Battalion, Norfolk Regiment, a TA unit.

In December 1932 Horatio Berney-Ficklin, having divorced his wife, transferred from the Norfolk Regiment to the Highland Light Infantry as a major.

In June 1939 Horatio Berney-Ficklin handed over command of the battalion to Lieutenant Colonel Bernard Campbell Fletcher and returned to England where, on 1 July, he received a promotion to the temporary rank of brigadier and the permanent rank of colonel on the same date and was given command of the 15th Infantry Brigade, in succession to Brigadier Henry Willcox.

Horatio Berney-Ficklin preceded his brigade, which had returned briefly to Scotland, as he had been selected to command the British forces intended to take Trondheim as part of Operation Hammer.

Major General Frederick Hotblack, the original force commander, had suffered a stroke and Horatio Berney-Ficklin was selected to replace him, temporarily relinquishing command of his brigade, which went on to fight in the Norwegian Campaign with great distinction, although at the cost of almost 900 casualties, and later had to be evacuated.

However, travelling by air to Norway via Orkney to take over his new command, Horatio Berney-Ficklin's plane crashed at Kirkwall, injuring him and several of his staff and putting him out of action, the command eventually passing to Major General Bernard Paget.

On 19 July 1941 Horatio Berney-Ficklin was promoted to the temporary rank of major general.

The monsoon season brought operations in Burma and India to a close and the division, now reformed with all three brigades, was sent to Persia, after Horatio Berney-Ficklin went personally to General Sir Archibald Wavell, the Commander-in-Chief, India and requested that the 5th Division be sent there, instead of the 2nd Division.

On 13 June 1942, on his fiftieth birthday, Horatio Berney-Ficklin was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath.

Horatio Berney-Ficklin, promoted on 5 May 1943 to permanent major general, was already familiar with Dempsey, as the latter had commanded the 13th Brigade while the former commanded the 15th Brigade over three years before.

Horatio Berney-Ficklin moved with his new wife, the daughter of a Russian general, to Cape Town, South Africa, where he died on 17 February 1961, at the age of 68.