Years of service 1914 - 1947 Service/branch British Army Name Raymond Briggs Rank Major general | Role British Army officer Allegiance United Kingdom Died 1984 | |
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Commands held 2nd Armoured Brigade
1st Armoured Division Battles/wars World War I
World War II Awards Order of the Bath, Distinguished Service Order | ||
Battles and wars World War I, World War II | ||
Major General Raymond Briggs CB DSO (19 January 1895 – 4 April 1985) was a senior British Army officer who led the 2nd Armoured Brigade at the Second Battle of El Alamein in late 1942 and later commanded the 1st Armoured Division.
Military career
Educated at Bedford School, Briggs served in World War I with the British Army's Machine Gun Corps, receiving his commission in 1915.
After attending the Staff College, Camberley from 1925 to 1926 was appointed Deputy Assistant Director for Mechanized Warfare at the War Office in 1936. He served in World War II as a General Staff Officer before becoming the commander of 2nd Armoured Brigade in 1940. As commander of this brigade he participated in the First Battle of El Alamein. Immediately after that battle he was appointed General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1st Armoured Division and commanded it during the Second Battle of El Alamein, receiving the CB for his role in the battle. Continuing to command the division throughout the Tunisian Campaign, as part of the British Eighth Army, which came to an end in May 1943, he was dismissed by General Sir Bernard Montgomery, the Eighth Army commander, in July and appointed Director of the Royal Armoured Corps at the War Office. He retired in 1947.