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{{Short description|British Indian Army general (1885–1954)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2017}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Sir Lewis Macclesfield Heath
|image=
|image_size=
|alt=
|caption=
|birth_date= {{birth date|1885|11|23|df=yes}}
|birth_place= India
|death_date= {{death date and age|1954|01|10|1885|11|23|df=yes}}<ref name="times">{{cite news |title=L.t.-Gen. Sir Lewis Heath |work=[[The Times]] |page=8 |date=12 January 1954 }}</ref>
|death_place= [[Bath, Somerset]], England
|placeofburial=
|nickname= "Piggy"
|allegiance= United Kingdom
|branch= [[British Indian Army]]
|serviceyears= 1905–1946
|servicenumber= 93958
|rank= [[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant General]]
|unit=
|commands= [[III Corps (India)|III Indian Corps]] (1941–42) [[5th Infantry Division (India)|5th Indian Division]] (1940–41) Deccan District (1939–40) [[Wana Brigade]] (1936–39) [[14th King George's Own Ferozepore Sikhs|1st Battalion]], [[11th Sikh Regiment]] (1929–33) Seistan Levy Corps (1919–21)
|battles= [[First World War]] [[Third Anglo-Afghan War]] [[Military history of the North-West Frontier|North-West Frontier]] [[Second World War]]
* [[East African Campaign (World War II)|East African Campaign]]
* [[Battle of Malaya]]
* [[Battle of Singapore]]
|awards= [[Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]] [[Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire]] [[Distinguished Service Order]] [[Military Cross]] [[Mentioned in Despatches]] (3)
|relations=
|laterwork=
}}
[[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant General]] '''Sir Lewis Macclesfield Heath''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|KBE|CB|CIE|DSO|MC}} (23 November 1885 – 10 January 1954) was an officer in the [[British Indian Army]] during the early to mid-twentieth century.

==Early life and family==
Heath was born 23 November 1885, the son of Col. Lewis Forbes Heath of the [[British Indian Army]].<ref name="HL">{{Cite web |url=https://www.tracesofwar.nl/articles/675/Heath-Lewis.htm |title=Sir Lewis Macclesfield Heath (1885 - 1954) |website=tracesofwar.nl |url-status=live |access-date=14 April 2020}}</ref> He was educated at [[Wellington College, Berkshire|Wellington College]] and [[Royal Military Academy Sandhurst]]. He joined the British Indian Army in 1905.<ref name="times"/><ref name="OIA">{{Cite web |url=https://www.unithistories.com/officers/indianarmy_officers_h01.html |title=Officers of the Indian Army |website=unithistories |url-status=live |access-date=14 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224182622/https://www.unithistories.com/officers/IndianArmy_officers_H01.html |archive-date=24 February 2020 }}</ref>

In 1915, Heath married Marjorie, daughter of Brigadier General A. B. H. Drew, and had three sons and two daughters. In 1941, he remarried Kathleen Longeron of [[Auckland]] and had another son.<ref name="times"/><ref name="HL"/>

==Military service==

Heath joined the [[Indian Army]] on 18 January 1905<ref name="OIA"/> and served with the [[King's African Rifles]] from 1909 to 1913.<ref name="HL"/><ref name="OIA"/> He was promoted to captain on 18 January 1914.<ref name="HL"/><ref name="OIA"/> He saw action in the [[First World War]] where he was injured losing an eye and suffering permanent damage to his left arm.<ref name="OIA"/> He was subsequently awarded the [[Military Cross]].<ref name="HL"/><ref name="OIA"/> Following the war he fought in the [[Third Anglo-Afghan War]] and served in East [[Persia]] from 1919 to 1921. He was Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General in India and Afghanistan between 30  May 1919 and 8 August 1919, and Deputy-Assistant Adjutant-General between 9 August 1919 and 26  September 1919. On 18 January 1920, he was promoted to major.<ref name="OIA"/> Between 1919 and 1921 he was Commandant of the Seistan Levy Corps.<ref name="OIA"/> Between 21 November 1924 and 5 July 1928 Heath served as Assistant Commandant and Commandant Indian Wing, at the Army School of Education, India.<ref name="OIA"/> He transferred to the 10/14 [[14th Punjab Regiment|Punjab Regiment]] in 1928.<ref name="OIA"/> He became commanding officer of the [[14th King George's Own Ferozepore Sikhs|1st Battalion]], [[11th Sikh Regiment]] in 1929 and was deployed to the [[North-West Frontier Province (1901–1955)|North-West Frontier]] in India in 1930 and 1932.<ref name="HL"/><ref name="OIA"/> On 1 January 1929 Heath was promoted to battalion lieutenant colonel and then lieutenant colonel on 6 December 1929.<ref name="HL"/> On 6 May 1932, Heath was promoted to battalion colonel.<ref name="OIA"/> He received the [[Distinguished Service Order]] (DSO) on 8 September 1933 and was promoted to colonel on 9 January 1934.<ref name="OIA"/><ref name="HL"/> He became an instructor at the Senior Officers School, [[Belgaum]], India in 1934<ref name="OIA"/> and Brigade Commander, [[Wana Brigade]] in 1936,<ref name="HL"/> in which capacity he was deployed to the North West Frontier in 1937.<ref name="OIA"/> In 1939, Heath was awarded the [[Order of the Bath]] on 2 January 1939 and promoted to Major General on 20 January of the same year.<ref name="OIA"/><ref name="HL"/> He went on to be Commander 7th Indian Division of the [[Decca, India|Deccan]] District in 1939.<ref name="OIA"/>

Heath achieved success as the [[General Officer Commanding]] the [[5th Indian Infantry Division]] during the [[East African Campaign (World War II)|East African Campaign]].<ref>
{{cite book
|last=Luto
|first=James
|date=2013
|title=Fighting with the Fourteenth Army in Burma: Original War Summaries of the Battle Against Japan 1943-1945
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pt87BAAAQBAJ&q=Heath+&pg=PT26
|publisher=Pen & Sword
|isbn=978-1-7830-3031-6
}}
</ref> Heath was appointed lieutenant general on 10 May 1941 and was awarded the [[Order of the British Empire]] (KBE) on 30 May 1941.<ref name="OIA"/> He was appointed to command [[III Corps (India)|III Indian Corps]] on 26 April 1941 as part of the [[Malaya Command]], which then participated in the [[Battle of Malaya]].<ref name="OIA"/> He was unable to stop the [[Japanese Empire|Japanese]] advance and had conflicting opinions on how to conduct the campaign with his commanding officer, Lieutenant General [[Arthur Ernest Percival|Arthur Percival]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/2016/06/17/general-percival-a-convenient-scapegoat/ |title=General Arthur Percival: a Convenient Scapegoat? |last=Diamond |first=Jon |website=warfarehistorynetwork.com |url-status=live |access-date=14 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231053927/https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/2016/06/17/general-percival-a-convenient-scapegoat/ |archive-date=31 December 2019 }}</ref> He was captured during the [[Battle of Singapore]], and held in prison in [[Singapore]], [[Taiwan|Formosa]], and [[Manchukuo]] (Manchuria) between 1942 and 1945.<ref name="OIA"/> He retired on 13 April 1946 with the rank of Lieutenant-general.<ref name="OIA"/>

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

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |title=Churchill's Lions: A Biographical Guide to the Key British Generals of World War II |last=Mead |first=Richard |year=2007 |publisher=Spellmount |location=Stroud |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==
*[https://generals.dk/general/Heath/Lewis_Macclesfield/Great_Britain.html Generals of World War II]
*[https://www.unithistories.com/officers/IndianArmy_officers_H01.html#Heath_LM Indian Army Officers 1939−1945]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heath, Lewis}}
[[Category:1885 births]]
[[Category:1954 deaths]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:Indian Army generals of World War II]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:King's African Rifles officers]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Military of Singapore under British rule]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Military Cross]]
[[Category:World War II prisoners of war held by Japan]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Third Anglo-Afghan War]]
[[Category:British Indian Army generals]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]
[[Category:Military personnel of British India]]

Lewis Heath - Revision history

Bot at 12:11, 6 October 2022