Victor Fortune

Sir Victor Morven Fortune
Major General Victor Fortune, commanding 51st (Highland) Division, at his HQ at Le Caudroy, France on 8 June 1940.
Born	21 August 1883 Blelack, Scotland
Died	2 January 1949 (aged 65) Dalswinton, Scotland
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1903–1945
Rank	Major General
Commands held	1st Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) 46th Infantry Brigade 1st Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders 5th Infantry Brigade 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division 51st (Highland) Infantry Division
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companion of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order Légion d'honneur (France) Order of the Phoenix (Greece)
Other work	Deputy Lieutenant, County of Perth Honorary Colonel, The Seaforth Highlanders

Major General Sir Victor Morven Fortune KBE, CB, DSO (21 August 1883 – 2 January 1949) was a senior officer of the British Army. He saw service in both World War I and World War II. He commanded the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division during the Battle of France and was subsequently trapped and obliged to surrender to the Germans on 12 June 1940.

Fortune was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant into the Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) in 1903 and served in the First World War as Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) from 1916 and Commander of 46th Brigade from 1918.

He became Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders in 1927 and Commander of the 5th Infantry Brigade in 1930. He became General Officer Commanding 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division in 1935 and General Officer Commanding the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division in 1937.

The 51st Division remained in France after the general evacuation from Dunkirk, having been assigned to the French X Corps. After naval evacuation proved impossible and supplies of ammunition had been exhausted, Major-General Fortune was forced to surrender the greater part of the Highland Division at St Valery en Caux. One brigade had earlier withdrawn to Le Havre and avoided capture. General Fortune spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of war. As senior British officer in captivity in Germany, he worked to improve the conditions of the men under his command. He suffered a stroke in 1944 but refused repatriation. He was finally liberated in April 1945 and made KBE shortly after.