Douglas Gracey

Military career By early 1915 he had been attached to the 5th Extra Reserve Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers. He served in France from 11 January to 2 May 1915 when he was wounded.

In September 1915, Gracey was appointed from the unattached list of the Indian Army into the 1st King George's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Malaun Regiment) with the rank of second lieutenant. With his Indian Army regiment he saw active service in Mesopotamia and Palestine and was awarded the Military Cross (MC) in 1917 and a Bar to the award in 1919.

As is often the case in wartime he held postings at various times with more senior acting rank, but was formally promoted lieutenant in August 1917 and captain with effect from August 1918.

Between the wars Between the wars Gracey became an instructor at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, in 1925, commanding one of the cadet companies. After this he attended the Staff College, Quetta, from 1928 to 1929, and his fellow students included Colin Gubbins, John Crocker, Eric Goddard, Lionel Cox, and Henry Davies, among many others, who were destined to achieve general officer rank. In peacetime, promotion came slowly and brevet ranks were used as an interim step to the next rank up for officers who performed well. In 1930, Gracey received a promotion to brevet major. In late 1931 he was appointed as GSO2 at GHQ India and by the time this appointment finished in late 1935 he had received his promotion to major. In early 1937 he was given another GSO2 posting at Western Command in India. Having waited so long to be raised from captain to major, his next advancements to brevet lieutenant-colonel and lieutenant-colonel came quite quickly, in January 1938 and February 1939.

Second World War At the start of the Second World War in September 1939, Gracey was commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles on the North West Frontier of India.

In April 1942 Gracey was promoted to acting major-general and given the task of forming and then commanding the 20th Indian Infantry Division. In July 1945, Gracey was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) and he was mentioned in dispatches. There were further mentions in dispatches for services in Burma in September 1945 and May 1946.

Because of Gracey's close relationship with his men, afforded by his long service as commander, the 20th Indian Infantry Division had a reputation as a happy and confident unit. Field Marshal Slim said of them, "I have never seen troops who carry their tails more vertically."

Indochina

In September 1945, Gracey led 20,000 troops of the 20th Indian Infantry Division ijnto Saigon.

In October 1945, Gracey rearmed the Japanese garrison and used them to occupy the city. Some socialist and communist commentaries call this controversial decision one that furthered Ho Chi Minh's cause of liberating Vietnam from foreign rule, starting the First Indochina War. Peter Dunn and Timothy Smith claim that his orders were intended to maintain essential services and prevent the slaughter of the civilian population. Marston reviews the military position Gracey was in. French General Philippe Leclerc arrived in Saigon in October 1945 to assume command but it was not until well into the first half of 1946 that enough French troops had arrived to allow Gracey in March 1946 to return with the bulk of his troops to India where the 20th Indian Infantry Division was disbanded.

After Second World War Promoted acting lieutenant-general in May 1946, Gracey successively commanded Northern Command and Indian I Corps in India. and served in the honorary capacity of Colonel Commandant of the Indian Signal Corps between March 1946 and October 1948.

Pakistan When British India was partitioned in 1947 Gracey became Chief of Staff in the newly created GHQ, Pakistan before succeeding Frank Messervy as the Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army in 1948.

Gracey left the Pakistan Army in April 1951 to retire, having attained the rank of full general. However, his permanent rank in the British Army had never advanced beyond major general so on retirement he was granted the honorary rank of general, having also been advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in January 1951 at the request of the Pakistan government.

Final years After his retirement Gracey settled in Surrey. He was a keen cricketer and a member of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and served as Chairman of the Royal Hospital and Home for Incurables at Putney in the years before his death, which occurred on 5 June 1964, at the age of 69.

Timeline Commissioned into 1st King George's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Malaun Regiment) (1915) Brigadier General Staff Western Command, India – 1938 Commanding Officer 2nd Battalion 3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles – 1939 to 1940 Assistant Commandant of Staff College Quetta, India – 1940 to 1941 Commanding Officer 17th Indian Brigade, Iraq and Syria – 1941 to 1942 General Officer Commanding 20th Indian Division, Burma – 1942 to 1946 Commander in Chief Allied Land Forces French Indochina – 1945 to 1946 General Officer Commander in Chief Northern Command, India −1946 General Officer Commanding Indian I Corps – 1946 to 1947 Chief of Staff, Pakistan Army – 1947 to 1948 Commander in Chief Pakistan Army – 1948 to 1951 Retired with honorary rank of general – 1951

Awards and decorations Knight Commander of the Order of the BathKnight Commander of the Order of the Indian EmpireCommander of the Order of the British EmpireKCBKCIECBE

Military CrossMentioned in DespatchesMC with Bar3 times