1. Roy Urquhart became prominent for his role as General Officer Commanding the 1st Airborne Division, which fought with great distinction, although suffering very severe casualties, in the Battle of Arnhem during Operation Market Garden in September 1944.
Roy Urquhart was born in Shepperton, Middlesex, England, on 28 November 1901, and was the son of a Scottish doctor.
Roy Urquhart was educated at St Paul's School, London, and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
Roy Urquhart was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, when he was stationed in Malta from 1933 to 1936.
Roy Urquhart served as an adjutant, and befriended David Niven during this time.
Roy Urquhart attended the Staff College, Camberley, from 1936 to 1937, and then returned to the 2nd Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Horatio Berney-Ficklin.
Roy Urquhart was then dispatched to India as a staff officer, and in May 1939 became the Deputy Assistant Quartermaster-General to Army HQ, India.
Roy Urquhart remained there until 1941, when he was posted to North Africa.
Roy Urquhart was then sent back to the United Kingdom, as a staff officer in the 3rd Infantry Division.
Roy Urquhart was prone to airsickness, and had not commanded or been a member of an airborne formation.
For nine days Roy Urquhart's division fought unsupported against armoured units of II SS Panzer Corps and suffered increasingly heavy casualties during the Battle of Arnhem.
In May 1945, following the German surrender, Roy Urquhart led the 1st Airborne Division, as the advanced guard of Force 134, during Operation Doomsday, the Allied reoccupation of Norway.
Roy Urquhart was charged with supervising the surrender of the German forces, as well as preventing the sabotage of vital military and civilian facilities.
Until the arrival of the Headquarters of Allied Forces, Norway, Roy Urquhart had complete control over all Norwegian activities.
Roy Urquhart was awarded the Norwegian Order of St Olav, for his role in the liberation of the country.
Roy Urquhart was then made General Officer Commanding, of the newly raised Territorial Army 16th Airborne Division in 1947.
Roy Urquhart was appointed as the General Officer Commanding Malaya Command during the Malayan Emergency and GOC-in-C British Troops in Austria.
Roy Urquhart was portrayed by Sean Connery in the 1977 film A Bridge Too Far, for which he himself served as a military consultant.