Stuart Rawlins (1897–1955)

Stuart Rawlins CB CBE DSO MC&Bar
Born	(1897-08-18)18 August 1897 Siston Court, Siston, England
Died	2 April 1955(1955-04-02) (aged 57)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1916-1951
Rank	Major General
Commands held	49th (West Riding) Infantry Division
Battles/wars	First World War Second World War
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Distinguished Service Order, Military Cross, Mentioned in Dispatches

Major General Stuart Blundell Rawlins CB CBE DSO MC (18 August 1897 – 2 April 1955) was a senior British Army officer during the Second World War.^[1]

Rawlins was the son of James Ernest Rawlins of Siston Court in South Gloucestershire. He was commissioned into the Royal Artillery from the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich in 1916. By the end of the First World War he had been awarded the Military Cross twice and had been wounded in action. Between the wars he served with British forces in Malta, England, India and in Africa with the Kings African Rifles. He was a junior staff officer in the War Office and attended Staff College during the 1930s.^[2][3] At the outbreak of the Second World War he was Staff Officer Royal Artillery in Aldershot Command.

He went to France as GSO 2 RA I Corps, then after returning to UK he went to West Africa as a GSO 1 before returning to the UK to command a regiment, but was soon promoted to become Commander, Royal Artillery in the 3rd Infantry Division. In 1943 he became CCRA XII Corps preparing for the invasion of Europe. In early 1944 he was appointed CCRA of XXX Corps, an assault corps on employed in the Normandy landings. He would often lead his artillery from the front, acting as a spotter and ordering fire from the plane, tank or armoured car from which he was commanding. During the Ardennes offensive he became temporary GOC of 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division but returned to CCRA to help plan the Operation Veritable offensive into the Reichswald with thirteen divisions and over 1000 guns under overall command.^[4]

After the war he became the commander of the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division before commanding the British Military Mission to Greece.^[5][6] Following this he was appointed Director Royal Artillery, then commander of the British Training Team in Iraq before retiring in 1951.

Personal life

Rawlins married Olivia Burges in 1925. They had two sons, Christopher and Philip, but Burges died giving birth to her third child, a daughter, in August 1930. The child also died.

He was a cousin of Colonel Stuart Rawlins and a relation of Vice Admiral John Rawlins.

References