Lewis Heath (original) (raw)

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British Indian Army general (1885–1954)

Lieutenant General Sir Lewis Macclesfield Heath, 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

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Heath was born 23 November 1885, the son of Col. Lewis Forbes Heath of the British Indian Army.[2] He was educated at Wellington College and Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He joined the British Indian Army in 1905.[1][3]

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.[1][2]

Heath joined the Indian Army on 18 January 1905[3] and served with the King's African Rifles from 1909 to 1913.[2][3] He was promoted to captain on 18 January 1914.[2][3] He saw action in the First World War where he was injured losing an eye and suffering permanent damage to his left arm.[3] He was subsequently awarded the Military Cross.[2][3] 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.[3] Between 1919 and 1921 he was Commandant of the Seistan Levy Corps.[3] Between 21 November 1924 and 5 July 1928 Heath served as Assistant Commandant and Commandant Indian Wing, at the Army School of Education, India.[3] He transferred to the 10/14 Punjab Regiment in 1928.[3] He became commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, 11th Sikh Regiment in 1929 and was deployed to the North-West Frontier in India in 1930 and 1932.[2][3] On 1 January 1929 Heath was promoted to battalion lieutenant colonel and then lieutenant colonel on 6 December 1929.[2] On 6 May 1932, Heath was promoted to battalion colonel.[3] He received the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) on 8 September 1933 and was promoted to colonel on 9 January 1934.[3][2] He became an instructor at the Senior Officers School, Belgaum, India in 1934[3] and Brigade Commander, Wana Brigade in 1936,[2] in which capacity he was deployed to the North West Frontier in 1937.[3] 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.[3][2] He went on to be Commander 7th Indian Division of the Deccan District in 1939.[3]

Heath achieved success as the General Officer Commanding the 5th Indian Infantry Division during the East African Campaign.[4] Heath was appointed lieutenant general on 10 May 1941 and was awarded the Order of the British Empire (KBE) on 30 May 1941.[3] He was appointed to command III Indian Corps on 26 April 1941 as part of the Malaya Command, which then participated in the Battle of Malaya.[3] He was unable to stop the Japanese advance and had conflicting opinions on how to conduct the campaign with his commanding officer, Lieutenant General Arthur Percival.[5] He was captured during the Battle of Singapore, and held in prison in Singapore, Formosa, and Manchukuo (Manchuria) between 1942 and 1945.[3] He retired on 13 April 1946 with the rank of lieutenant general.[3]

1. ^ a b c "L.t.-Gen. Sir Lewis Heath". The Times. 12 January 1954. p. 8.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Sir Lewis Macclesfield Heath (1885–1954)". tracesofwar.nl. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u "Officers of the Indian Army". unithistories. Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
4. ^ Luto, James (2013). Fighting with the Fourteenth Army in Burma: Original War Summaries of the Battle Against Japan 1943–1945. Pen & Sword. ISBN 978-1-7830-3031-6.
5. ^ Diamond, Jon. "General Arthur Percival: a Convenient Scapegoat?". warfarehistorynetwork.com. Archived from the original on 31 December 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2020.

• Mead, Richard (2007). Churchill's Lions: A Biographical Guide to the Key British Generals of World War II. Stroud: Spellmount. ISBN 978-1-86227-431-0.
• Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnesley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 1844150496.
• Generals of World War II
• Indian Army Officers 1939–1945