Richard Hull

Field Marshal Sir Richard Amyatt Hull, (7 May 1907 – 17 September 1989) was a senior British Army officer.

Richard Amyatt Hull was born in Cosham, Hampshire on 7 May 1907, the son of Major-General Sir Charles Hull, and Muriel Helen Hull (née Dobell), and was educated at Charterhouse School and Trinity College, Cambridge.

The brigade was heavy fighting just a week after Hull's assumption of command, where it was involved in taking a key position named Peter's Corner which, despite air and infantry tank support from the 21st Tank Brigade, failed with some 900 casualties, with the Germans putting up a tenacious resistance.

The operation, codenamed Olive, began on the night of 25 August, with the 1st Armoured held in reserve.

Hull entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the 17th/21st Lancers, a cavalry regiment of the British Army, on 1 November 1926.

In the days leading up to Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa, for which the 6th Armoured Division was to take part in as part of the British First Army, Hull was promoted to colonel and became second-in-command (2IC) of the 26th Armoured Brigade.

In December Blade Force was reabsorbed into the 6th Armoured Division, Hull returning to the 2IC of the 26th Armoured Brigade.

Posted with his regiment to Egypt in October 1928, he was promoted to lieutenant on 7 May 1931 and to captain on 1 June 1933 before going on to India in October of that year.

Hull, with the 36th Infantry Brigade on his left flank, and the 11th Infantry Brigade (both from Major-General Vyvyan Evelegh's 78th "Battleaxe" Division) on his right flank, now decided to turn west, hoping to get to Tunis by a more northern route, with the aid of elements of the U.S. 1st Armored Division.

However, this attempt also failed as the Germans had received reinforcements and, by the end of the month, the Allies were on the defensive and forced to withdraw from their positions.

He served as adjutant of his regiment when it was converted into a mechanised role and, from 1938 to 1939, he attended the Staff College, Quetta.

By the time of the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, Hull had just returned from India.

After serving in the Directorate of Staff Duties at the War Office from February 1940, Hull was appointed Officer Commanding (OC) 'C' Squadron of his regiment, which had also by now returned from India to the United Kingdom, in March 1941 and then, five months later, became the regiment's Commanding Officer (CO).

The regiment had been serving as part of the 26th Armoured Brigade of the 6th Armoured Division since the division's formation in September 1940.

He served with distinction during the Second World War, fighting from 1942 to 1945 in North Africa, Italy and Western Europe, became the youngest divisional commander in the British Army, and, after the war was over, he advised the British government on the response to the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation in the 1960s.

He remained in this capacity until June 1942 when he became GSO1 of the 1st Canadian Armoured Division, which was soon redesignated the 5th Canadian (Armoured) Division.

The division's first General Officer Commanding (GOC) was Major-General John Crocker, passing briefly to Major-General Herbert Lumsden and then Charles Gairdner, before, in May 1942, finally passing to Major-General Charles Keightley, who, like Hull, was a fellow cavalryman.

Elements of the First Army landed in North Africa on 8 November 1942, with Hull's regiment being among them.

For his services in the early stages of the Tunisian campaign Hull was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order on 11 February 1943.

By February 1943, the brigade was at Thala.

In the middle of the month the Germans launched their attack at Kasserine Pass against US troops, forcing them to retreat.

Lieutenant-General Kenneth Anderson, GOC of the British First Army, appointed Brigadier Cameron Nicholson, 2IC of the 6th Armoured Division, gave him command of Nickforce, an improvised formation.

Nickforce held on until further reinforcements and fought the Germans to a standstill.

Hull's brigade was relieved by the 78th Division's 11th Brigade soon afterwards and, due to its heavy losses, only managed to play a relatively minor role in the First Army's capture of Tunis, which fell on 6 May 1943, the campaign in Tunisia itself coming to an end a week later with the surrender of almost 250,000 Axis troops.

Over a month later, on 19 June Hull returned to the 6th Armoured Division, still commanded by Keightley, where he took over command of the 26th Armoured Brigade from Brigadier Philip Roberts, which was then training in North Africa for operations in Italy, before returning to the United Kingdom, becoming Deputy Director of Staff Duties (DDSD) at the War Office, in December 1943.

The appointment was an important department within the General Staff and was responsible for staff training and for the organisation of the army in general.

Soon after taking up this position, Hull was, in late January 1944, mentioned in despatches for his services in North Africa.

Hull remained in this post until August 1944 when, promoted to major-general, he succeeded Major-General Alexander Galloway as GOC of the 1st Armoured Division, then serving on the Italian front, making Hull the youngest divisional commander in the British Army during the Second World War.

Keightley, the corps commander, planned for the 46th Division, under Major-General John Hawkesworth, to breach the German defences, allowing Hull's division to exploit its success and drive on to the Po Valley.

The 46th Division's progress was initially successful and Keightley decided to bring the 1st Armoured earlier than planned, although the division was, curiously, held back 100 miles from the enemy and, by the time it reached the front, was exhausted.

He was the last Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), holding the post from 1961 to 1964, and the first Chief of the General Staff (CGS), holding that post until 1965, and, as such, was the professional head of the British Army.

He later became Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) from 1965 to 1967, the professional head of the entire British Armed Forces.

Hull was then promoted to brigadier and took command of the 12th Infantry Brigade, part of the 4th Mixed Division (which was composed of the 10th and 12th Infantry Brigades and the 21st Tank Brigade), then commanded by Major-General John Hawkesworth, which had arrived in Tunisia the month before, on 17 April.

A week later, shortly after landing, Hull was ordered to form Blade Force, based around the 17th/21st Lancers, along with part of the 1st Derbyshire Yeomanry (the 6th Armoured Division's reconnaissance regiment) and anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns, and to capture Tunis as soon as possible (see the run for Tunis).

Sending his units by train to Constantine, he arrived there on the evening of 16 November, and, the following day, was on the border of Tunisia.

Hull then headed towards Medjez el Bab, which was held by the French against the Germans.

The armoured cars of the 1st Derbyshire Yeomanry arrived on 18 November, with the rest of Blade Force arriving soon after, but, lacking infantry support, were unable to capture the bridge.

The division, a pre-war Regular Army formation, was composed of the 2nd Armoured and 18th Lorried Infantry Brigades along with supporting units, and was a veteran of the British Eighth Army that had fought throughout most of the North African campaign and briefly with the First Army in the final stages of the campaign in Tunisia but, since then, had seen no action, with tanks being considered unsuitable in the mountains of Italy.

The division was assigned to V Corps, commanded by Lieutenant-General Charles Keightley (who, formerly as Hull's superior as GOC 6th Armoured Division, had been the one to recommend Hull for command of the 1st Armoured Division), with I Canadian Corps and II Polish Corps on its right, next to the Adriatic Sea.

The Eighth Army commander, Lieutenant-General Sir Oliver Leese (who had taught Hull at the Staff College, Quetta before the war), intended to launch an offensive to breach the Gothic Line, believing he could reach the Po Valley.