Harry Tuzo

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Sir Harry Tuzo
Born (1917-08-26)26 August 1917
Bangalore, India
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Norwich, United Kingdom
Allegiance  United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service 1939–1978
Rank General
Unit Royal Artillery
Commands held 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery (1960–62)
51 Gurkha Infantry Brigade (1963–65)
Royal Artillery (1969–71)
Northern Ireland (1971–73)
Northern Army Group (1973–76)
Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1976–78)
Battles/wars Second World War
Indonesian Confrontation
Northern Ireland
Awards Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
Military Cross
Mentioned in Despatches (2)
Other work Chairman, Marconi Space and Defence Systems (1979–83)
Chairman, Royal United Services Institute (1980–83)

Sir Harry Crawford Tuzo GCB, OBE, MC, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , (26 August 1917 – 7 August 1998) was a British Army officer who was Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe and GOC of the British Army in Northern Ireland during the early period of the Troubles.

Early life

Harry Craufurd Tuzo was born in Bangalore, India, on 26 August 1917; the son of John Atkinson Tuzo, a British Army Officer and civil engineer, and his wife Annie Catherine (née Craufurd).[1][2][3] Tuzo was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire (where he was a member of the Officer Training Corps[4]) and Oriel College, Oxford, where he read jurisprudence.[1]

Second World War

He first entered the British Army on 15 July 1939 as a second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery, Supplementary Reserve of Officers,[4] just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. After a fortnight's training he crossed to France with the 21st Anti-Tank Regiment as part of the British Expeditionary Force. In May 1940, he was amongst the last of those evacuated from Dunkirk, travelling in a paddle cruiser to Harwich. He stayed with his regiment engaged in coastal defence until June 1944 when they returned to France in the Invasion of Normandy. His regiment was in support of the Guards Armoured Division in Normandy where he won the Military Cross (MC) for his actions up to Operation Goodwood (the breakout from Caen).[1] He was then a war substantive captain and temporary major commanding Y Battery of the regiment consisting of self-propelled anti-tank guns, the original recommendation for his MC mentions his actions at the Albert Canal bridgehead, the attacks on Hechtel, Elst[disambiguation needed], Sittard and particularly in support of the Coldstream Guards at Wesel; he was slightly wounded three times during this period.[5] Later in Germany he had the rare distinction as a battery commander of accepting the surrender of a German Admiral who was Flag Officer U Boats.[2] As the end of the war approached, he was granted a Regular Army commission, with the substantive rank of lieutenant (with seniority from 24 February 1941), on 17 January 1945.[6] He was Mentioned in Despatches on 9 August 1945,[7] and his MC was gazetted on 22 January 1946.[8] He received substantive promotion to captain on 1 July 1946.[9] He had married Monica Patience Salter on 5 October 1943.[1]

Borneo

From 1963 to 1965 he commanded the 51st Gurkha Brigade in Borneo, which included Brunei in its area of operations. His Gurkha battalions worked to win the "hearts and minds" of the locals, but also participated with the SAS in Operation Claret which interdicted Indonesian troops as they attempted to cross the border. The Sultan of Brunei honoured Tuzo with the title Dato Setia Nagara in 1965.[2] His work also earned him a Mention in Despatches.[10]

Northern Ireland

Tuzo was appointed as General Officer Commanding and Director of Operations, Northern Ireland on 2 March 1971 together with promotion to lieutenant-general.[11] His appointment was made after the previous incumbent, Lieutenant-General Vernon Erskine-Crum suffered a heart attack.[12] Tuzo was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) on 4 June 1971, in the Queen's Birthday Honours.[13] In 1972, after consultation with Whitehall, Tuzo ordered Operation Motorman which sent 30,000 troops into Republican dominated 'no-go' areas of West Belfast and Derry to take back control.[2] He relinquished his position in Northern Ireland on 1 February 1973 and was replaced by Lieutenant-General Sir Frank King.[14][15] Tuzo was promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) on 2 June 1973.[16]

After his service in Northern Ireland ended he was appointed Commander-in-Chief British Army of the Rhine until 1976 when he was made Deputy Supreme Allied Commander, Europe.[2] He was placed on the retired list on 5 February 1979.[17] After his service in the army he accepted a position in 1979 as chairman of Marconi Space and Defence Systems which he held until 1983.[18] Tuzo was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Norfolk on 12 September 1983.[19] Tuzo's granddaughter is the journalist Rosie Garthwaite.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Obituary: General Sir Harry Tuzo, The Independent, 19 August 1998, archived by findarticles.com from the original. Retrieved 30 September 2008.
  3. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 30393. p. 12097. 20 November 1917. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 The London Gazette: no. 34645. pp. 4836–4837. 14 July 1939. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 36892. p. 392. 12 January 1945. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
  7. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 37213. pp. 4044–4046. 7 August 1945. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
  8. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 37442. pp. 635–637. 22 January 1946. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
  9. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 37635. pp. 3366–3367. 28 June 1946. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
  10. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 43837. p. 11680. 10 December 1965. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
  11. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 45322. p. 2269. 12 March 1971. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 45384. p. 5958. 4 June 1971. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
  14. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 45899. p. 1680. 5 February 1973. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 45984. p. 6474. 22 May 1973. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
  17. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 47768. p. 1982. 12 February 1979. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 49474. pp. 11950–11950. 12 September 1983. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
Military offices
Preceded by General Officer Commanding the British Army in Northern Ireland
1971–1973		 Succeeded by
Sir Frank King
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief of the British Army of the Rhine
1973–1976		 Succeeded by
Sir Frank King
Preceded by Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe
1976–1978		 Succeeded by
Sir Jack Harman
Honorary titles
Preceded by Master Gunner,
St. James's Park
1977–1983		 Succeeded by
Sir Thomas Morony
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