General Sir Richard Edward Worsley GCB OBE (29 May 1923 – 23 February 2013) was a senior British Army officer who fought in the Second World War and later commanded 1st (British) Corps.
Sir Richard Worsley | |
---|---|
Born | Ballywalter, County Down, Northern Ireland | 29 May 1923
Died | 23 February 2013 | (aged 89)
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | British Army |
Years of service | 1942–1982 |
Rank | General |
Unit | Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) |
Commands held | 1st The Royal Dragoons 7th Armoured Brigade 3rd Division 1st (British) Corps |
Battles/wars | Second World War Malayan Emergency |
Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Officer of the Order of the British Empire |
Spouse(s) | Sarah Anne Mitchell Caroline Carnegie, Duchess of Fife |
Worsley was born on 29 May 1923 at Ballywalter, County Down, Northern Ireland, the son of Herbert Henry Knight Worsley, JP (1885–1947) of Lough House, Grey Abbey, County Down,[1] by Rose Austen (died 30 April 1958),[2] only daughter of John Alfred Hives of Upper Plain, Masterton, New Zealand, farmer,[3] and widow of Major Meyrick Myler Magrath, DSO, Royal Field Artillery, of Dorking House, Cosham, Hampshire.[4] He was educated at Radley College.[5][6][7]
His uncles were the first-class cricket batsmen A. E. Worsley and C. E. A. Worsley,[8] who both played for Northamptonshire.[9][10]
During the Second World War Worsley was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the British Army's Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) in 1942.[11] He served in the Middle East and Italy.[8]
After the war he then served in the Malayan Emergency in 1948.[12] He became an instructor at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst later in 1948 and then became Commanding Officer (CO) of the 1st The Royal Dragoons in 1962.[12]
He took command of the 7th Armoured Brigade in 1965 and Chief of Staff Far East Land Forces in 1969.[12] He became General Officer Commanding (GOC) 3rd Division in 1972 and GOC 1st (British) Corps in 1976.[12] His final appointment was as Quartermaster-General to the Forces in 1979; he retired in 1982.[12] He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1964 New Year Honours[13] and a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1976 Birthday Honours.[14] He was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1982 New Year Honours.[15]
He lived at Goring Heath in South Oxfordshire[16] and died on 23 February 2013.[17]
He married on 6 May 1959 at Holy Trinity Church, Brompton, London, to Sarah Anne "Sally", eldest daughter of Brigadier J. A. H. Mitchell of the British Embassy, Paris,[18] and they went on to have a son, Henry,[19] and a daughter, Charlotte.[6] On 7 Nov 1980, he married Caroline Carnegie, Duchess of Fife.[20][12][6]