Henry Royds Pownall

Lieutenant General Sir Henry Royds Pownall KCB, KBE, DSO (1887-1961) was a British general, who held several important command and Staff appointments during World War II. In particular, he was Chief of Staff to the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France and Belgium until the fall of France in May 1940. He was later Chief of Staff to General Archibald Wavell until the fall of Singapore in 1942, and Chief of Staff to Lord Louis Mountbatten in 1943-44.

Biography

Early career

Pownall was born in 1887 and received his education at Rugby School and Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. After graduating he began his military service with the Royal Field Artillery and Royal Horse Artillery, during which he was stationed in both Britain and India from 1906-1914. In 1909, he received the rank of lieutenant and then captain 1914.

World War I

During World War I Pownall served in both France and Belgium. During the war he was given the rank of Major in 1917 and oversaw the Royal Artillery, 17th Division. For his service during the war Pownall was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1918.

Post WWI Activity

Following the war, Pownall served as a brigade major at the Royal School of Artillery in Larkhill from 1924 - 1925. He continued his training and education as General Staff Officer (Grade 2) at Staff College, Camberley from 1926-1929 where he became a Brevet lieutenant-colonel in 1928. After completing his training at Staff College he took part in Great Game operations in the North West Frontier of India through 1931. Following this, Pownall held a series of non-combat military roles, serving as the Military Assistant Secretary for the Committee of Imperial Defence from 1933 - 1935, then as Deputy Secretary for the Committee of Imperial Defence in 1936, and then served as a Commandant back at the School of Artillery in Larkhill from 1936-1938. As World War II drew closer he became Director of Military Operations and Military Intelligence in the British War Office from 1938 - 1939.

World War II

Britain entered the war after Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939. Pownall held a series of command and senior staff positions throughout the war. He began the war as Chief of General Staff for the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France and Belgium until the fall of France in May 1940. He then assumed the position of Inspector General for the recently created British Home Guard and was Commander of British Troops in Northern Ireland. Pownall was the Vice Chief of the Imperial General Staff in the War Office in 1941 and moved to Commander-in-Chief of the British Far East Command in South East Asia until 1942 when it was succeeded by the short-lived ABDACOM where he then became Chief of Staff to General Sir Archibald Wavell. Afterwards he assumed the role of General Officer commanding the British Army in Ceylon from 1942 - 1943 under the direction of SEAC. As the war drew on he became Commander-in-Chief of the Persia and Iraq theatres in 1943 and then Chief of Staff to the Supreme Allied Commander, Lord Louis Mountbatten, South East Asia Command from 1943 - 1944. After the conclusion of the war he retired from the British army in 1945.

During the war Pownall received the distinctions of Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1940 and Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1945.

Post war positions

* Chairman, Friary Meux Limited
* Member of the Committee of Lloyds Bank
* Chief Commissioner, St. John Ambulance Brigade, 1947 - 1949
* Military consultant to Winston Churchill on the "History of the Second World War" (Cassell, London, 1948-1954)
* Chancellor, Order of St John, 1951

Further reading

Henry Pownall's diaries were published as "Chief of Staff. The diaries of Lieutenant General Sir Henry Pownall", edited by Brian Bond (Leo Cooper, London, 1972)