Brian Urquhart
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Sir Brian Urquhart KCMG MBE |
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|---|---|
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Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Special Political Affairs |
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In office 1971–1985 |
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| Preceded by | Ralph Bunche |
| Succeeded by | Marrack Goulding |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
28 February 1919 Dorset, United Kingdom |
| Nationality | British |
| Profession | Soldier and diplomat |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom
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| Service/branch |
 British Army
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| Years of service | 1939–1945 |
| Rank | Major |
| Unit | Dorsetshire Regiment |
| Battles/wars |
Operation Overlord Operation Market Garden |
Sir Brian Urquhart KCMG MBE (born 28 February 1919) is a World War II veteran, author and a former Undersecretary-General of the United Nations.
Born and raised in Dorset, Urquhart was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford.
His father was the English painter Murray Urquhart. He abandoned his family in 1925, when Brian was six years old.
When World War II broke out, Urquhart joined the Army and, after a brief training period, was commissioned as an officer in The Dorset Regiment. The Battle of France ended before his unit could deploy to the Continent, and he and his men were part of the coastal defence forces in and around Dover during the Battle of Britain. He later transferred to the Airborne Division as an Intelligence Officer. In August 1942, he was severely injured in a training drop, damaging three vertebrae in his lower spine and breaking several bones. He spent months in the hospital, recovering and regaining his strength.
After his recovery, Urquhart served in North Africa and the Mediterranean, before returning to England to participate in the planning of airborne operations associated with Operation Overlord. In the autumn, as the 1st Airborne Corps Intelligence Officer, he assisted with the planning for Operation Market Garden, an ambitious airborne operation designed to seize the Dutch bridges over the rivers barring the Allied advance into northern Germany. He became convinced that the plan was critically flawed, and attempted to persuade his superiors to modify or abort their plans in light of crucial information obtained from aerial reconnaissance and the Dutch resistance. The episode was described by Cornelius Ryan in his book on "Market Garden", A Bridge Too Far. (In the film version, directed by Richard Attenborough, Urquhart's character was renamed "Major Fuller", to avoid confusion with a similarly named British General.) The subsequent failure of the operation and the heavy casualties that resulted vindicated Urquhart's judgment, but he became deeply depressed by his failure to persuade his superiors to halt the operation and requested a transfer out of the airborne forces.
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