Frederick Joseph Loftus-Tottenham | |
---|---|
Born | 4 May 1898 |
Died | 11 April 1987 (aged 89) Warminster, Wiltshire |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/branch | British Indian Army |
Rank | Major-General |
Awards |
CBE (12 June 1947) DSO (22 June 1944) DSO(22 March 1945) MID (17 December 1942) MID (5 April 1945) MID (19 July 1945) |
Major-General Frederick Joseph Loftus-Tottenham, CBE, DSO and Bar (born 1898; died 1987) was a British Indian Army officer during World War I and World War II.
Loftus-Tottenham passed out from the Cadet College, Wellington and was commission a second lieutenant in April 1914 and was attached to the 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles). A year later he was promoted to lieutenant. He was promoted captain in April 1920 and in May 1934 he was promoted to major.
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 of India. 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. In February 1943 he was further promoted to acting brigadier to command 33rd Indian Infantry Brigade, part of 7th Indian Infantry Division.
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 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 By early March the division was once more on the attack and late in the month Loftus-Tottenham's brigade was withdrawn into reserve.