Sir Richard O'Connor

Sir Richard O'Connor

Nickname(s)	"Dick"
Born	21 August 1889 Srinagar, India
Died	17 June 1981(1981-06-17) (aged 91) London, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1909–1948
Rank	General
Unit	Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
Commands held	2nd Infantry Battalion, Honourable Artillery Company Peshawar Brigade 7th Infantry Division 6th Infantry Division Western Desert Force XIII Corps British Troops Egypt VIII Corps Eastern Command, India Northern Command, India
Battles/wars	First World War Western Front Battle of the Piave River Second World War Operation Compass Operation Epsom Operation Jupiter Operation Goodwood Operation Bluecoat Operation Market Garden
Awards	Knight of the Order of the Thistle Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order & Bar Military Cross Mentioned in dispatches (13 times) Legion of Honour (France) Croix de Guerre (France) Silver Medal of Military Valor (Italy)
Other work	Commandant of the Army Cadet Force, Scotland Colonel of the Cameronians ( -1954) Lord Lieutenant of Ross and Cromarty (November 1955 – ) Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (3 March 1964)

General Sir Richard Nugent O'Connor KT, GCB, DSO & Bar, MC (21 August 1889 – 17 June 1981) was a senior British Army officer who fought in both the First and Second World Wars, and commanded the Western Desert Force in the early years of the Second World War. He was the field commander for Operation Compass, in which his forces destroyed a much larger Italian army – a victory which nearly drove the Axis from Africa, and in turn, led Adolf Hitler to send the German Africa Corps under Erwin Rommel to try to reverse the situation. O'Connor was captured by a German reconnaissance patrol during the night of 7 April 1941 and spent over two years in an Italian prisoner of war camp. He eventually escaped after the fall of Mussolini in the autumn of 1943. In 1944 he commanded VIII Corps in the Battle of Normandy and later during Operation Market Garden. In 1945 he was General Officer in Command of the Eastern Command in India and then, in the closing days of British rule in the subcontinent, he headed Northern Command. His final job in the army was Adjutant-General to the Forces in London, in charge of the British Army's administration, personnel and organisation.