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{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Sir Francis Tuker
|birth_date= 4 July 1894
|death_date= 7 October 1967 (aged 73)
|birth_place=[[Tobago]], [[Trinidad and Tobago]]
|death_place=[[Mawnan|Mawnan South]], [[Cornwall]], [[England]]
|placeofburial=
|placeofburial_label=
|image=
|caption=
|branch={{army|United Kingdom}} {{army|British Raj}}
|nickname="Gertie"
|allegiance={{flag|United Kingdom}}
|servicenumber=282035
|serviceyears= 1914–1948
|rank= [[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant General]]
|commands=1st Battalion, [[2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles)|2nd Gurkha Rifles]] [[34th Infantry Division (India)|34th Indian Infantry Division]] [[4th Infantry Division (India)|4th Indian Infantry Division]] [[IV Corps (United Kingdom)|IV Corps]] [[Eastern Command (India)|Eastern Command, India]]
|unit=[[Royal Sussex Regiment]] [[2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles)|2nd Gurkha Rifles]]
|battles=[[World War I|First World War]] [[World War II|Second World War]]
|awards=[[Order of the Indian Empire|Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]] [[Order of the Bath|Companion of the Order of the Bath]] [[Distinguished Service Order]] [[Order of the British Empire|Officer of the Order of the British Empire]]
|laterwork= Writer, Military Historian
}}
[[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant General]] '''Sir Francis Ivan Simms Tuker''' [[Order of the Indian Empire|KCIE]] [[Order of the Bath|CB]] [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]] [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] (4 July 1894 – 7 October 1967) was a senior [[British Indian Army]] [[Officer (armed forces)|officer]] who commanded the [[4th Infantry Division (India)|4th Indian Infantry Division]] during the [[World War II|Second World War]].

==Early life==
The son of William J. Sanger Tuker, of Butts Green Hall, [[Sandon, Essex|Sandon]], [[Essex]], by his marriage to Katherine Louisa Simms, of Yew House, Twickenham,<ref>[https://www.ukwhoswho.com/search?q=Tuker%2C+Lieut-Gen.+Sir+Francis+Ivan+Simms%2C+%2814+July+1894–7+Oct.+1967%29 "Tuker, Lieut-Gen. Sir Francis Ivan Simms (14 July 1894–7 Oct. 1967)"] in ''[[Who's Who (UK)|Who Was Who 1961–1970]]'' (London: A. & C. Black), online edition, ukwhoswho.com, accessed 13 December 2020 {{subscription}}</ref> Tuker was educated at [[Brighton College]], [[East Sussex]], of which he was in later life a governor, and attended the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst]], from 1912 to 1913.<ref name=lh>[http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/TUKER.shtml Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives]</ref>

==Military career==
[[Officer (armed forces)|Commissioned]] as a [[second lieutenant]] into the [[British Army]]'s [[Royal Sussex Regiment]] in 1914, later that year Tuker transferred to the [[2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles)|2nd Gurkha Rifles]] of the [[Indian Army during World War I|Indian Army]], in which he was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 10 October.<ref name=lh/><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=29098 |date=12 March 1915 |page=2516 }}</ref> He saw active service in the [[World War I|First World War]] and served as an acting captain from 14 March to 12 April 1916,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=30138 |date=19 June 1917 |page=6062 }}</ref> and was promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant on 17 August 1917, back-dated to 1 September 1915.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=30236 |date=17 August 1917 |page=8458 }}</ref> Promoted to captain on 14 January 1918,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=30808 |date=23 July 1918 |page=8630 }}</ref> he took part in the Kuki Punitive expedition that year and, after the war, was an officer of the North West [[Persia]] operations between 1920 and 1921.<ref name=lh/>

After attending the [[Staff College, Camberley]] from 1925 to 1926, Tuker was promoted to major on 14 January 1932,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33802 |date=26 February 1932 |page=1298 }}</ref> brevetted to lieutenant colonel on 1 July 1933,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33955 |date=30 June 1933 |page=4383 }}</ref> and promoted to lieutenant colonel on 1 February 1937,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34385 |date=2 April 1937 |page=2127 }}</ref> at which time he was appointed [[Commanding officer|Commanding Officer]] (CO) of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Gurkha Rifles.<ref name=lh/> For his part in operations in [[Waziristan]] that year, he was appointed an OBE (Mil.) on 21 December<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34465 |date=21 December 1937 |page=7996 }}</ref> and was [[mentioned in dispatches]] in February 1938.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34485|date=18 February 1938 |page=1078 }}</ref>

On 27 October 1939, a month after the outbreak of the [[World War II|Second World War]], Tuker was promoted to full colonel (with seniority from 1 July 1936).<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34832 |date=19 April 1940 |page=2301 |supp=y}}</ref> He became Director of Military Training in [[British Raj|India]] in 1940. A temporary brigadier by this time, he was appointed [[General officer commanding|General Officer Commanding]] (GOC) [[34th Infantry Division (India)|34th Indian Infantry Division]] on 1 October 1941 with the [[Acting (rank)|acting rank]] of major-general.<ref name=lh/><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=35446 |date=6 February 1942 |page=611 }}</ref> He took over command of the [[4th Infantry Division (India)|4th Indian Infantry Division]]<ref name=lh/> on 30 December 1941<ref name=orders>[http://www.ordersofbattle.com/PersonData.aspx?PerX=1243 Orders of battle]</ref> and then commanded it during the [[Western Desert campaign|Western Desert]] and [[Italian campaign (World War II)|Italian campaign]]s.

Promoted to temporary major-general on 1 October 1942,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=36255 |date=19 November 1943 |page=5090 }}</ref> he was mentioned in dispatches on 15 December 1942<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=35821 |date=15 December 1942 |page=5445 |supp=y}}</ref> and again on 24 June 1943.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=36065 |date=24 June 1943 |page=2864 |supp=y}}</ref> Promoted to major-general on 31 May 1943,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=36074 |date=2 July 1943 |page=2977 |supp=y}}</ref> he was appointed a [[Order of the Bath|CB]] on 5 August 1943.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=36120|date=3 August 1943 |page=3521|supp=y }}</ref>

In early 1944, towards the end of Tuker's time in Italy, during the [[Battle of Monte Cassino]], [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] commanders were engaged in a controversy regarding what action should be taken against the monastery at [[Monte Cassino]]. The Germans had declared it a military-free zone but many senior commanders were reluctant to believe that the Germans would not occupy such a strategically important position. Tuker had found a book dated 1879 in a [[Naples]] bookshop giving details of the construction of the monastery at Monte Cassino which his division was to attack. He wrote a memorandum to his Corps commander, [[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-General]] [[Bernard Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg|Bernard Freyberg]], concluding that it should be demolished to prevent its occupation. He also pointed out that with 150-foot (45 m) high walls made of masonry at least 10 feet (3 m) thick, there was no practical means for field engineers to deal with the place, and that bombing with [[blockbuster bomb]]s would be the only solution since 1,000 pound bombs would be "next to useless".<ref>Majdalany, pp. 114–115.</ref> [[General (United Kingdom)|General]] [[Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis|Sir Harold Alexander]], commanding the [[Allied Armies in Italy]], agreed to the bombing (which did not employ blockbuster bombs) and the ruins were occupied by German forces which held the position until 18 May.

Tuker commanded the 4th Indian Division until 4 February 1944 when he became seriously ill and for nearly a year took no part in the war.<ref name=orders/> While recovering he assumed light duties as [[General Officer Commanding, Ceylon]] from March 1944 to September 1944, before becoming Chairman of the Frontier Commission in India. On 14 July 1945 he was put in temporary command of the [[IV Corps (United Kingdom)|IV Corps]] in [[Burma]] while [[Frank Messervy]] took leave for a month, taking part in the defeat of the [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese]] at the [[Battle of the Sittang Bend]] a breakout attempt at the [[Sittaung River|Sittang]] in July and August.<ref name=orders/> For his service in Burma he received his final mention in dispatches in September 1946.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=37730 |date=17 September 1946 |page=4707 |supp=3 }}</ref>

Tuker reverted to his substantive rank of major-general and after taking some leave, became Commander, Lucknow District in November 1945.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=37371 |date=30 November 1945 |page=5858 }}</ref> Knighted with the KCIE in the [[1946 New Year Honours]],<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=37407 |date=1 January 1946 |page=10 }}</ref> he was promoted once more to acting lieutenant-general on 21 January and appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, [[Eastern Command (India)|Eastern Command, India]].<ref name=lh/><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=37495 |date=8 March 1946 |page=1292 }}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=37516 |date=29 March 1946 |page=1586 }}</ref> Promoted to the permanent rank of lieutenant-general on 15 November 1946,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=37919 |date=1 April 1947 |page=1483 |supp=y}}</ref> he retired on 25 April 1948<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=38277 |date=30 April 1948 |page=2703 }}</ref> and died in 1967. There is a memorial tablet to him in the chapel of Brighton College, below which hangs his sword. At its dedication ceremony, the [[Band of the Brigade of Gurkhas]] performed a [[Beating Retreat]] on the school's playing field.

Tuker's nickname in the army was "Gertie". He is known for a number of books on military history that he wrote, including ''The Pattern of War'', ''While Memory Serves'' and ''The Yellow Scarf''. In his book ''The Pattern of War'' he argued that warfare follows a definite pattern.<ref>[http://www.tactica.org.uk/10.html "The Pattern of Engagement in Sales Campaigns"]</ref>

==Private life==
In 1923 Tuker married Catherine Isabella Bucknall, in the district of [[Horsham]], [[West Sussex|Sussex]].<ref>"Tuker, Francis I S / Bucknall / Horsham 2b 693"; "Bucknall, Catherine I / Tuker / Horsham 2b 693"; in ''General Index to Marriages in England and Wales'' (1923, 2nd quarter)</ref> She died in Cornwall on 2 October 1947 and was buried at St Mawnan and St Stephen's Church, [[Mawnan]].<ref>"Tuker, Catherine I, 54 / Redruth 7a 124" in ''General Index to Deaths in England and Wales'' (1947, 4th quarter; [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/190874974/catherine-isabella-tuker "Catherine Isabella Tuker"], findagrave.com, accessed 13 December 2020: "Inscription / To the memory of Catherine Isabella, dearly loved wife of Lt. Gen. Sir Francis Tuker, died on October 2nd 1947 aged 54 years. After a life devoted to others."</ref> In 1948, in [[Marylebone]], Tuker married secondly Cynthia H. Fawcett.<ref>"Tuker, Francis I S / Fawcett / Marylebone 5d 692"; "Fawcett, Cynthia H / Tuker / Marylebone 5d 692", in ''General Index to Marriages in England and Wales'' (1948, 2nd quarter)</ref>

Tuker's father died on 26 January 1951, aged eighty-nine, when he was still living at Butts Green, Sandon, Essex.<ref>"TUKER, William J S, 89 / Chelmsford 4a 644" in ''General Index to Deaths in England and Wales'' (1951, quarter); "TUKER, William John Sanger", in ''Probate Index for England and Wales, 1951'' (1952), p. 1037</ref>

In his book ''Approach to Battle'' (1963), Tuker commented on his career: “I have tried my hand at many other things in my life - farming, commercial horticulture, authorship, training horses, painting, etching and engraving, and none have I found so testing and so difficult as the planning and conduct of a successful land battle against a worthy foe, whether against the guerrilla or the enemy who is fully equipped for war.”<ref>Sir Francis Ivan Simms Tuker, ''Approach to Battle, a Commentary: Eighth Army, November 1941 to May 1943'' (London: Cassell, 1963), p. 391</ref>

==Publications==
* {{cite book| first=Francis| last=Tuker| title=The desert rats and other verses | location=Falmouth| publisher=F. S. Tuker | year=1944| oclc=500713544 }}
* {{cite book| first=Francis| last=Tuker| title=The pattern of war| location=London| publisher=Cassell | year=1948| oclc=1692323 | author-mask=3}}
* {{cite book| first=Francis| last=Tuker| title=While memory serves | location=London| publisher=Cassell | year=1950| oclc=776589922| author-mask=3}}
* {{cite book| first=Francis| last=Tuker| title=Does Stalin mean war | location=London| publisher=Batchworth Press | year=1952| oclc=753039478| author-mask=3}}
* {{cite book| first=Francis| last=Tuker| title=Gorkha: the story of the Gurkhas of Nepal | location=London| publisher=Constable | year=1957| oclc=468954732| author-mask=3}}
* {{cite book| first=Francis| last=Tuker| title=The yellow scarf : the story of the life of Thugee Sleeman or Major-General Sir William Henry Sleeman, 1788-1856, of the Bengal army and the Indian Political Service | location=London| publisher=J. M. Dent| year=1961| oclc=578826920 | author-mask=3}}
* {{cite book| first=Francis| last=Tuker| title=Approach to battle, a commentary: Eighth Army, November 1941 to May 1943 | location=London| publisher=Cassell | year=1963| oclc=654634176 | author-mask=3}}
* {{cite book| first1=Henry| last1=Metcalfe| first2=John| last2=Edmonstone| editor-first=Francis| editor-last=Tuker| title=The chronicle of Private Henry Metcalfe, H.M. 32nd Regiment of foot, together with Lt. John Edmondstone's letter to his mother of 4th Jan., 1858 | location=London| publisher=Cassell | year=1953| oclc=562472964}}

==References==
'''Citations'''
{{reflist}}

'''Sources'''
* {{cite book | last=Majdalany| first=Fred| title=Cassino: Portrait of a Battle | publisher=Longmans, Green |location= London | year=1957 | oclc=536746}}
* {{Cite book| first=Richard| last=Mead| title=Churchill's Lions: a biographical guide to the key British generals of World War II| year=2007| publisher=Spellmount| location=Stroud (UK)| isbn=978-1-86227-431-0}}
* {{cite book| first=Nick| last=Smart| title=Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War| isbn=1844150496| year=2005| location=Barnesley| publisher=Pen & Sword}}

==External links==
*[http://sanipanhwar.com/1950%20While%20Memory%20Serves%20by%20Tuker.pdf While Memory Serves]
*[https://generals.dk/general/Tuker/Francis_Ivan_Simms/Great_Britain.html Generals of World War II]
*[https://www.unithistories.com/officers/IndianArmy_officers_T01.html#Tuker_FIS Indian Army Officers 1939–1945]

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{{S-bef|before=[[Frank Messervy|Sir Frank Messervy]]}}
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{{s-bef|before=[[Arthur Smith (British Army officer)|Sir Arthur Smith]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Eastern Command (India)|GOC-in-C Eastern Command, India]]|years=1946–1947}}
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{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuker, Francis}}
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:Indian Army generals of World War II]]
[[Category:1894 births]]
[[Category:1967 deaths]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:Royal Sussex Regiment officers]]
[[Category:People educated at Brighton College]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley]]
[[Category:British Indian Army generals]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War I]]

Francis Tuker - Revision history

Bot at 20:02, 25 August 2022