Rex Whitworth

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Rex Whitworth
Born27 August 1916
Died22 May 2004 (aged 87)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
RankMajor-General
Service number124539
Commands held1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards
Berlin Infantry Brigade
North East District
Battles/warsSecond World War
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Major-General Reginald Henry "Rex" Whitworth CB, CBE (27 August 1916 – 22 May 2004) was a British Army officer.

Military career[edit]

Educated at Eton College, Balliol College, Oxford, and the Queen's College, Oxford,[1] Whitworth was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards on 5 March 1940.[2][3] He served as a staff officer during the Second World War.[1]

After the war he became commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards, in 1956, commander of the Berlin Infantry Brigade in October 1961 and deputy military secretary at the Ministry of Defence in February 1964.[4] He went on to be General Officer Commanding, Yorkshire District in March 1966, General Officer Commanding North East District in March 1967 and Chief of Staff of Southern Command in June 1968 before retiring in September 1970.[4]

He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1964 New Year Honours[5] and a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1969 Birthday Honours.[6]

In retirement he was a fellow and bursar of Exeter College, Oxford, from 1970 to 1981.[1]

Family[edit]

In 1946 he married June Rachel Edwards; they had three sons and one daughter.[1]

Works[edit]

  • Whitworth, Rex (1958). Field Marshal Lord Ligonier: a Story of the British Army, 1702-1770. Clarendon Press.
  • Whitworth, Rex (1988). Gunner at Large: The Diary of James Wood R.A. 1746-65. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-0850528848.
  • Whitworth, Rex (1993). William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, a Life: Victor of Culloden. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-0850523546.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d People of Today 1994. Debrett. 1994. ISBN 9781870520195.
  2. ^ "No. 34821". The London Gazette. 29 March 1940. p. 1901.
  3. ^ "Obituary: Major General R. H. Whitworth". The Times. 14 June 2004. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Army Commands" (PDF). Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  5. ^ "No. 43200". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1963. p. 6.
  6. ^ "No. 44863". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 June 1969. p. 5963.
Military offices
Preceded by GOC North East District
1967–1968
Succeeded by