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General 'Sir Douglas David Gracey' (born 1894; died 1964), KCB, KCIE, CBE, MC was a British officer in both World War I and World War II. He also fought in French Indochina and was the second Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan. Gracey held this latter office from 11 February 1948 until his retirement on 16 January 1951.

Contents

Army Career

World War I

World War II

Commander in Chief Allied Land Forces French Indochina

Pakistan

See also

References

External links

Army Career

★ Commissioned into 1st King George's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Malaun Regiment) (date?)

★ Brigadier General Staff Western Command, India - 1938

★ Commanding Officer 2nd Battalion 3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles - 1939 to 1940

★ Assistant Commandant of Staff College Quetta, India - 1940 to 1941

★ Commanding Officer 17th Indian Brigade, Iraq and Syria - 1941 to 1942

★ General Officer Commanding 20th Indian Division, Burma - 1942 to 1946

★ Commander in Chief Allied Land Forces French Indochina - 1945 to 1946

★ General Officer Commander in Chief Northern Command, India -1946

★ General Officer Commanding I Indian Corps - 1946 to 1947

★ Chief General Staff, Pakistan - 1947 to 1948

★ Commander in Chief Pakistan Army - 1948 to 1951

★ Retired - 1951

World War I

Gracey saw World War I service in France.

World War II

Gracey commanded several Indian Army units during the war. During the Syria-Lebanon Campaign, as part of Iraqforce, he commanded the Indian 17th Infantry Brigade (from Indian 8th Infantry Division). During the Burma Campaign, Gracey commanded the 20th Indian Division, part of the Fourteenth Army.

Commander in Chief Allied Land Forces French Indochina

In September 1945, Gracey led 20,000 troops of the 20th Indian Division to occupy Saigon. During the Potsdam Conference in July 1945, the Allies had agreed on Britain taking control of southern Vietnam (then part of French Indochina) from the Japanese occupiers. Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed Vietnamese independence from French rule and major pro-independence and anti-French demonstrations were held in Saigon. Ho Chi Minh was the leader of the communist Viet Minh.
Fearing a communist takeover of Vietnam, Gracey decided to rearm French citizens who had remained in Saigon. He allowed them to seize control of public buildings from the Viet Minh. In October 1945, as fighting spread throughout the city, Gracey issued guns to the Japanese troops who had surrendered. He used them to help restore order in the city. According to some socialists and communists, this controversial decision furthered Ho Ch Minh's cause of liberating Vietnam from foreigners' rule and precipitated the First Indochina War. ^[1]

Pakistan

Gracey did not send troops to the Kashmir front and refused to obey the order to do so given by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Governor-General of Pakistan. Gracey argued that Jinnah as Governor-General represented the British Crown of which he himself was an appointee. Similar to Gracey, the early heads of Pakistan’s air force and naval force were Englishmen.

See also

★ Iraqforce

★ Rawalpindi Conspiracy 1951

★ First Indochina War

References

1. The Empire Strikes Back

External links

★ General Sir Douglas David Gracey