Bertie Fisher
British Army general (1878–1972)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lieutenant-General Sir Bertie Drew Burdett Fisher, KCB, CMG, DSO (13 July 1878 – 24 July 1972) was a British Army general during the Second World War.
Sir Bertie Fisher | |
|---|---|
| Born | 13 July 1878 |
| Died | 24 July 1972 (aged 94) |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Branch | British Army |
Service years | 1900–1938 1939–1940 |
Rank | Lieutenant-General |
| Service number | 6400[1] |
| Unit | 17th Lancers |
| Commands | Southern Command (1939–1940) Royal Military College, Sandhurst (1934–1938) Senior Officers' School (1927–1930) 2nd Cavalry Brigade (1923–1927) 17th/21st Lancers (1922–1923) 8th Infantry Brigade (1918–1919) Leicestershire Yeomanry (1915) |
Conflicts | Second Boer War First World War Second World War |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George Distinguished Service Order |
Military career
Fisher was commissioned into the 17th Lancers as second lieutenant on 23 May 1900,[2] and served in the Second Boer War, during which he was promoted to lieutenant on 29 July 1901.[3] Following the end of the war, he returned from Cape Town to England in the SS Maplemore in August 1902.[4]
Fisher went to the Staff College in 1911.[2] In 1913 he learned to fly,[5] and became a General Staff Officer in the Military Aeronautics Department at the War Office.[2] He served in the First World War, initially as a brigade major in the 6th Cavalry Brigade, which formed part of the British Expeditionary Force,[2] and then, after serving as commander of the Leicestershire Yeomanry in 1915, as general staff officer, grade 1 (GSO1), essentially chief of staff, of the 1st Cavalry Division, holding this post from August 1915 until January 1918.[2][6] He was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel while holding his appointment.[7] He was then appointed commander of the 8th Infantry Brigade later in the year.[2]
After the war, Fisher was the commander of the 17th Lancers at the time of their amalgamation with the 21st Lancers in 1922.[2] He took command of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade in 1923 and was the commandant of the Senior Officer School in 1927.[2] He was then a Brigadier on the General Staff at Aldershot Command from 1930 and Director Recruiting and Organisation at the War Office from 1932.[2] He became commandant of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, in 1934. He relinquished this appointment on 12 January 1938 and was then placed on half-pay[8] and retired soon after.[2] He had been promoted to lieutenant general in June 1931.[9] On 25 February 1938 he succeeded General The Hon. Sir Herbert Lawrence as colonel of the 17th/21st Lancers.[10]
Fisher was recalled from retirement during the Second World War to be General Officer Commanding-in-Chief for Southern Command from 1939 to 1940, when he retired again.[2] He lived in Basingstoke in Hampshire.[11]
Family
Fisher married Majorie Frances Boyd; they had two sons.[11]