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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox military person
|name=Frederick Joseph Loftus-Tottenham
|birth_date={{birth date|1898|5|4|df=yes}}
|death_date={{death date and age|1987|4|11|1898|5|4|df=yes}}
|birth_place=[[Naas]], [[Co. Kildare]], [[Ireland]] {{sfn|Doherty|2004|p=198}} 
|death_place=[[Warminster]], [[Wiltshire]], [[England]]
|image=
|caption=
|nickname=
|allegiance={{flag|United Kingdom}}
|branch=[[British Indian Army]]
|serviceyears=
|rank= [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]]
|commands=
|unit=
|battles=[[World War I]] [[World War II]]
|awards=[[Order of the British Empire|CBE]] (12 June 1947)<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=37977| date=6 June 1947| supp=y|page=2591}}</ref> [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]] (22 June 1944)<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=36574| date=20 June 1944|page=2961| supp=y}}</ref> DSO(22 March 1945)<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=36994| date=20 March 1945|page=1544| supp=y}}</ref> [[Mentioned in despatches|MID]] (17 December 1942)<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=35825| date=15 December 1942|page=5496| supp=y}}</ref> MID (5 April 1945)<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=37015| date=3 April 1945|page=1824| supp=y}}</ref> MID (19 July 1945)<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=37184| date=19 July 1945|page=3757| supp=y }}</ref>
|laterwork=
}}
[[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] '''Frederick Joseph Loftus-Tottenham''', [[Order of the British Empire|CBE]], [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]] and [[medal bar|Bar]] (4 May 1898{{spaced ndash}}11 April 1987) was a [[British Indian Army]] officer during World War I and World War II.

==Military career==
Loftus-Tottenham passed out from the Cadet College, Wellington and was commission a second lieutenant in April 1914<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=29651| date=4 July 1916|page=6617}}</ref> and was attached to the [[2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles)]].<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=29735| date=5 September 1916|page=8714}}</ref> A year later he was promoted to lieutenant.<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=30365| date=2 November 1917|page=11362}}</ref> He was promoted captain in April 1920<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=32185| date=7 January 1921|page=186}}</ref> and in May 1934 he was promoted to major.<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=34053| date=25 May 1934|page=3356}}</ref>

In 1940 he was advanced to lieutenant-colonel to command the newly raised 3rd battalion of the [[1st Gurkha Rifles]], stationed in Waziristan on the [[North West Frontier (military history)|North West Frontier]] of India.{{sfn|Mead|2007|p=256}} He was [[mentioned in despatches]] for his services there. Having taken a parachute training course, he was appointed in October 1941 to raise and command 153 Gurkha Parachute Battalion, part of [[50th Parachute Brigade (India)|50th Parachute Brigade]].{{sfn|Mead|2007|p=256}} In February 1943 he was further promoted to acting brigadier to command [[33rd Indian Infantry Brigade]], part of [[7th Infantry Division (India)|7th Indian Infantry Division]].{{sfn|Mead|2007|p=256}}

In October 1943 the brigade moved to the Arakan and in January 1944 took part in the division's attack down the Kalapanzin Valley to capture the only lateral route across the Mayu peninsula. British plans were forestalled in February by the Japanese [[Battle of the Admin Box|Ha-Go Offensive]] which infiltrated and compromised the division's lines of supply. However, new tactics dictated that instead of retreating to protect supply lines, the division should hold firm forming defensive boxes to await relief from formations in reserve. Supplies would come from the air. The main target of the Japanese was the division's Admin Box and for a short while Loftus-Tottenham was given the task of co-ordinating the division's three brigades while divisional commander [[Frank Messervy]] was out of touch, his HQ having been overrun. 33 Brigade saw heavy fighting but slowly, with their own supplies cut, the Japanese attack began to fade. By early March the division was once more on the attack and late in the month Loftus-Tottenham's brigade was withdrawn into reserve.{{sfn|Mead|2007|p=257}}

In April 1944 the brigade was airlifted from the Arakan as part of the reinforcements sent to [[XXXIII Corps (British India)|XXXIII Indian Corps]] at [[Battle of Kohima|Kohima]] facing the Japanese [[U Go offensive]] and experienced heavy fighting throughout May until the end of the battle. After a pause the brigade took part in the pursuit and then was withdrawn to refit and rest.{{sfn| Mead| 2007| p=257}} In June Loftus-Tottenham was awarded the DSO.

In August 1944 Loftus-Tottenham was promoted to acting major-general<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=36659| date=15 August 1944|page=3811| supp=y}}</ref> to command the [[81st (West Africa) Division|81st West African Division]] which held the left hand flank of [[XV Corps (British India)|XV Corps]]' front in the Arakan.{{sfn|Mead|2007| p=258}} The division had virtually no transport, relying on auxiliary groups of porters to support each of its two brigades. In some respects this proved no disadvantage given the very poor going in the Kaladan Valley where the division was to operate and that access to the valley was via the "West African Way," a temporary jeep track constructed in 1943. As a result, the division relied for much of its supply from the air and constructed light aircraft and Dakota strips as it advanced. He also found the unit seriously short of non-commissioned officers since no British reinforcements had arrived; he therefore resorted to promoting Africans, who proved to be entirely satisfactory. In mid January the division had reached Myohaung and with two brigades from 82nd West African Division under command launched an attack which saw the key town taken by the end of the month when the division was relieved and withdrawn to Southern India.{{sfn|Mead|2007|p=258}} In March 1945 Loftus-Tottenham was awarded his second DSO.

In India the division trained for an amphibious landing on the Kra Isthmus but the operation was cancelled and the division did not see further action.{{sfn|Mead|2007|p=258}}

After the war Loftus-Tottenham spent a time in command of Force 401, an expanded brigade group formed to protect British oil interests in south-west Iran<ref>For an explanation see Middle East Studies article via https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00263206.2015.1124417</ref> and was based in southern Iraq,<ref>For a description see an Indian officer's account via: http://veekay-militaryhistory.blogspot.com/2012/10/biography-lieut-general-rn-batra-pvsm.html</ref> near Basra till its withdrawal in May–June 1947 (in connection with which he was appointed [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire|CBE]]), and then became GOC Iraq.<ref>The memoirs of [[Nigel Buxton]], his ADC, describing a longstanding plan to launch such an action into Iran and more details. See Ch. 11 on: https://baaaddad.wordpress.com/author/baaaddad/page/3/</ref>

In 1947 he was placed in command of 7th Indian Infantry Division over the period of [[Partition of India|Partition]] and in the same year his permanent rank was advanced to full colonel.<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=38134| date=25 November 1947|page=5637| supp=y}}</ref> His retirement from the British Army (with the substantive rank of full colonel) was formally dated February 1948 but he remained active on the specially employed list seconded to the Pakistan Army (to which his division, now the 7th Infantry Division was allocated).<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=38471| date=3 December 1948|page=6306}}</ref> He commanded the 7th Infantry Division till 1949, it was one of Pakistan's two field divisions and was based @ Rawalpindi.<ref>'Unusual Undertakings: A Military Memoir' by James Wilson</ref> He finally retired in August 1950<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=39502| date=28 March 1952|page=1749}}</ref> when he was accorded the honorary rank of major-general.<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=39274| date=29 June 1951|page=3611| supp=y}}</ref> However, he would later command the Home Guard in Northern Ireland during the four years, 1952-56, in which that body was revived in cadre form.{{sfn|Doherty|2004|p=204}}

==Family==
Loftus-Tottenham married Marjorie Fielden Dare in 1922. They had three sons, two of whom were Gurkha officers were killed in action during the Second World War (one at [[Battle of Monte Cassino|Cassino]] and the other in Burma, both aged 20 years).<ref>The memoirs of Nigel Buxton, his ADC provides details of him and his life in Iraq. See Ch. 11 on: https://baaaddad.wordpress.com/author/baaaddad/page/3/</ref> Widowed in 1978, he married again, to Isobel Helen Baker, in 1980.<ref name="Orders">[http://www.unithistories.com/units_index/default.asp?file=../units_index/documents.asp? Orders of Battle.com: Frederick Joseph Loftus-Tottenham].</ref>

==See also==
*[[Burma Campaign#Southern front 1943.2F44|Arakan Campaign 1943/44]]
*[[Battle of the Admin Box]]
*[[Battle of Kohima]]
*[[Burma campaign 1944–1945#Southern Front|Burma Campaign 1944-45 Southern Front]]

==References==
{{Reflist| colwidth=30em}}

==Bibliography==
*{{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}}
*{{ cite book | first=Richard| last=Doherty| title=Ireland's Generals in the Second World War| isbn=185182-865-6| year=2004|location=Dublin| publisher=Four Courts Press}}
==External links==
*[https://www.unithistories.com/officers/IndianArmy_officers_L01.html#Loftus-Tottenham_FJ Indian Army Officers 1939−1945]
*[https://generals.dk/general/Loftus-Tottenham/Frederick_Joseph/Great_Britain.html Generals of World War II]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loftus-Tottenha, Frederick Joseph}}
[[Category:1898 births]]
[[Category:1987 deaths]]
[[Category:British Indian Army generals]]
[[Category:Indian Army generals of World War II]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War I]]

Frederick Joseph Loftus-Tottenham - Revision history

Bot at 13:41, 6 September 2022