| Colin Muir Barber | |
|---|---|
| Nickname | "Tiny" |
| Born | 27 June 1897 Birkenhead |
| Died | 5 May 1964 (aged 66) |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch | Territorial Army, British Army |
| Years of service | 28 Mar 1916 - 28 Mar 1955 |
| Rank | Lieutenant-General |
| Commands held | 46th (Highland) Infantry Brigade 15th (Scottish) Division Scottish Command and Governor of Edinburgh Castle |
| Battles/wars | World War I Waziristan 1921-24 Palestine 1936-39 World War II - France 1940 - Normandy - Operation Veritable |
| Awards | KBE CB DSO and bar Mentioned in Despatches 5 times Commander of the Order of the Crown with Palm (Belgium) (9 Oct 1945) Croix de Guerre 1940 with Palm[1] |
Sir Colin Muir Barber, KBE, CB, DSO and bar (born Birkenhead 27 June 1897, died 5 May 1964), was a British General who commanded the 15th (Scottish) Division during their actions across north west Europe in World War II. Barber was reputed to be the tallest officer in the British Army (at 6'9") and thus earned the ironic nickname, "Tiny".[2]
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Barber was educated at Uppingham School. He was married twice, first, in 1929, to Mary Edith Nixon. The couple had a son and a daughter; Mary died in 1949. His second wife was Mrs Anthony Milburn.[3]
Colin Muir Barber was mobilised in 1916 and served with the Liverpool Scottish in France and Belgium. In March 1918, he was commissioned into the 1st Battalion, Cameron Highlanders, continuing to serve in France and Belgium until the end of World War I.[3]
Between 1919 and 1939, Barber served in India. He was mentioned in despatches in 1925 for service in Waziristan and he attended the Staff College in Quetta in 1929 (from where he graduated with distinction[2]). On his return to Britain, he had several staff appointments, mainly within the British Army's Scottish Command. In 1936, after a brief posting to Palestine, he was appointed to the General Staff as a GSO2.[3]
In 1940, he was with 51st (Highland) Division of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France, winning his first DSO[4] and mentioned in despatches. From March, 1941 Barber returned to the General Staff as a GSO1, until taking command, in October, of the 46th (Highland) Infantry Brigade. From August, 1944 Barber, as an acting Major-General, commanded the 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division for the remainder of the campaign in north-west Europe.[3] In this campaign, the 15th Division had the distinction to lead the three great river crossings of the Seine, the Rhine and the Elbe[2] and Barber was awarded the bar to his DSO.[5]
Barbour commanded Highland District (Scottish Command) between 1946 and 1949 when he became Director of Infantry & Military Training, War Office. Barber was promoted to Lieutenant-General on 27 February 1952 and made General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Scottish Command and Governor of Edinburgh Castle. He retired on 28 March 1955.[3]
Colin Muir Barber died on 5 May 1964.[3] A memorial service was held at Canongate Kirk (The Kirk of Holyroodhouse) on 22 May 1964. There is a memorial plaque for Lieutenant General Sir Colin Muir Barber, as a commander in the 15th Scottish Infantry Division that liberated Tourville in June 1944.[6]
On November 13, 1945 Barber and the Soviet general major Nikolay Grigoryevich Lyashchenko (Russian: Николай Григорьевич Лященко) signed the Barber Lyashchenko Agreement ((German), also Gadebusch Agreement) in Gadebusch, redeploying some municipalities along the northern border between the Soviet and British zone of Allied-occupied Germany. Thus some eastern suburbs of Ratzeburg, such as Ziethen in Lauenburg, Mechow, Bäk and Römnitz became part of the Duchy of Lauenburg District (British zone), while the Lauenburgian municipalities of Dechow, Groß and Klein Thurow (now component parts of Roggendorf) as well as Lassahn (now a component part of Zarrentin am Schaalsee) were ceded to the adjacent Mecklenburgian district (Soviet zone). The redeployment was accomplished on November 26, the respective occupational forces had to withdraw until November 28 to their new zonal territory.[7] The British occupational forces provided all the inhabitants of villages to be ceded to the Soviet zone to be evacuated, if they wished so, including all their chattels by vehicles provided by the British forces. All displaced people (usually formerly forced labourers under the prior Nazi rule) in these villages and other eventual foreigners - except of Soviet citizens among them - were obligatorily to be relocated, while Soviet displaced people would have to stay.
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire 1952
Companion of the Order of the Bath (Military Division) 5 July 1945
Distinguished Service Order 11 July 1940, 19 October 1944
Mentioned in Despatches 13 March 1925, 20 December 1940, 22 March 1945, 10 May 1945, 8 November 1945
Commander of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) 9 October 1945
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Gordon MacMillan |
GOC-in-C Scottish Command 1952–1955 |
Succeeded by Sir Horatius Murray |