32 Facts About Nigel Poett

Nigel Poett was a twin, born at the same time as his sister Angela.

Shortly after his birth, Nigel Poett's family moved to India to join his father, and then in 1910 they moved, this time to Canada, where his father hoped to take up a new career in farming.

Nigel Poett's father returned to service in the First World War, attaining the honorary rank of brigadier general.

Nigel Poett was first educated at a private boarding school, and then moved to Downside School, a Catholic public school.

In November 1927, Nigel Poett was posted with the regiment to Egypt, with his battalion being stationed at Mustapha Barracks on the outskirts of the city of Alexandria.

In December 1929, Nigel Poett was informed that his father had died, although his mother urged him not to return home, as he would not be able to return to Britain before the funeral took place.

One month later, in January 1930, Nigel Poett was informed that he was to be transferred to the regiment's 2nd Battalion, which was to move to Razmak, a frontier post in Waziristan on the North-West Frontier.

Nigel Poett first spent a month's leave visiting his family and travelling around Europe, and was then transported by troopship to Port Said.

Just before leaving Razmak, Nigel Poett had been informed that he had been selected to serve as an aide-de-camp to the Governor of Bengal for six weeks, and upon arrival at Barrackpore found that he would start his duties in November 1930.

Bethell lived near Fort William in Calcutta, and Nigel Poett found it a demanding '6am to midnight' job.

Nigel Poett eventually finished as Bethell's ADC and returned to his battalion, but not for long; he was then transferred to General Bethell's staff as a General Staff Officer 3rd Grade.

Nigel Poett returned to his battalion after a period as General Staff Officer, and then spent some time in Britain on leave.

Nigel Poett took another period of leave to visit his brother-in-law in Australia, and during the journey met and fell in love with his future wife, Julia Herrick, on the ship from Bombay to Calcutta.

The next month the married couple moved to Britain, with Nigel Poett resuming his duties as battalion adjutant in Woking, where the battalion had recently been transferred.

Only a few days after Nigel Poett arrived in Britain, war had been declared on Germany and the Second World War had begun.

Nigel Poett travelled to the regimental depot in County Durham, and after two weeks at Brancepeth Castle running troop exercises, he was informed that he had been promoted to the rank of major and appointed a General Staff Officer Grade 2.

Nigel Poett would be attached to a branch of the War Office known as Staff Duties 2, and his specific duties were concerned with allocating weapons to British Army units positioned throughout the different theatres of war.

In early May 1940, Nigel Poett was sent to the General Headquarters of the British Expeditionary Force, and when he returned to Britain at the port of Dover he was informed that the invasion of Belgium and France had begun during his journey.

Nigel Poett appealed to the War Office to be released from staff duties and assigned to a division in the field, but it was not until the Dunkirk evacuation was over that a replacement was found for him.

Nigel Poett was then assigned as the GSO 2 for the 2nd Infantry Division, which had only recently returned from France.

One such alert took place when Nigel Poett was in Woking, where his wife had just given birth to his son Simon.

Nigel Poett was given a secretary to help him handle his new responsibilities, many of which were secret in nature; they included developing the Orders of Battle for oversea theatres such as the Middle East, and the allocation of space on convoys travelling to these theatres.

At one point Nigel Poett had to defend a paper he had written, about the Middle East Order of Battle, to the Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who was unhappy with the large number of administrative units assigned to the theatre.

Nigel Poett continued his work throughout 1941, and in late December he travelled to Washington DC in the United States of America alongside an officer from the Plans Directorate, with orders to assist the Anglo-American planning of the coming conflict.

When he returned from Washington, Nigel Poett requested that the War Office return him to regimental duty and give him command of a regular infantry battalion.

Nigel Poett assumed command of the battalion in Herefordshire, but soon travelled around the country with it, moving to Wales and Scotland, before finishing up in the Welsh town of Llanelli.

In May 1943, Nigel Poett was assigned the command of the 5th Parachute Brigade, 6th Airborne Division.

Nigel Poett jumped on D-Day at 0019 hours, with the pathfinders and a small team.

At 0050 hours, Nigel Poett made contact with Lieutenant Sweeney at Horsa Bridge.

Nigel Poett then made his way to the Pegasus Bridge and Major Howard.

Nigel Poett became Chief of Staff at Headquarters Far East Land Forces in 1950, General Officer Commanding 3rd Division based in the Middle East in 1952 and then Director of Military Operations at the War Office in 1954.

Nigel Poett went on to be Commandant of the Staff College, Camberley in 1957 and General Officer Commanding Southern Command in 1958 before returning to Far East Land Forces in 1961 as Commander-in-Chief prior to his retirement in 1963.