David Egerton (British Army officer)

Not to be confused with David Egerton.

Major-General Sir David Boswell Egerton, 16th Baronet, CB, OBE, MC (24 July 1914 – 17 November 2010), was a senior British Army officer from the aristocratic Egerton family.

Sir David Egerton
Born	(1914-07-24)24 July 1914 Grimsby, Lincolnshire
Died	17 November 2010(2010-11-17) (aged 96) London, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	British Army
Years of service	1933–70
Rank	Major-General
Service number	63503
Battles / wars	Second World War Battle of France Battle of Alam Halfa First Battle of El Alamein Second Battle of El Alamein Italian Campaign
Awards	Baronet (2008) CB (1968) OBE (1958) MC (1940)
Relations	Grey-Egerton baronets

Egerton memorial tablets in Chester Cathedral: (top) to family members killed during the First World War and (below) to Vice-Admiral Wion Egerton

Family

His immediate family were cadets of the ancient and noble Egertons, seated at Oulton in Cheshire since the Middle Ages.

His father, Wion Egerton, was born in the Punjab in 1879 and joined the Royal Navy, being awarded the DSO in 1917 and rising to the rank of Vice-Admiral. Admiral Egerton died in 1943 whilst his mother Anita, only daughter of Major Albert Rudolph David, died in 1972.

His grandfather, uncle of Sir Philip Grey-Egerton, 14th Baronet, was Field Marshal Sir Charles Egerton, who was commissioned into the Indian Army.

Career

Egerton was commissioned in the Royal Artillery and served with distinction in the Second World War. A career soldier, he was Director-General of Artillery in the Ministry of Defence (1964–67), Vice-President and Senior Army Member Ordnance Board (1967–69), President (1969–70) and Colonel Commandant of the Royal Artillery until 1975. After being promoted to the rank of Major-General he retired from the British Army and was appointed Secretary-General of the Association of Recognised English Language Services (1971–79), being elected a Fellow of the Institute of Linguists (FIL).

Personal life

CB neck decoration

On 10 April 1946, Egerton married Margaret Gillian (died 24 August 2004), youngest daughter of Canon Charles Cuthbert Inge, Rector of Streatley, Berkshire.

Succeeding his second cousin, Sir John Grey-Egerton, 15th Baronet, to the baronetcy in 2008, the style of "Sir David Egerton" was not one to which he became accustomed, having long been known as "Major-General Egerton".

General Egerton and his wife had three children: William (now Sir William Egerton, born 1949), who succeeded to the baronetcy in 2010, and two daughters, Charlotte now Dixon (born 1950) and Caroline now White (born 1955).

See also

• Grey-Egerton baronets

Arms

Coat of arms of David Egerton

Notes By Royal Licence 1825, Rev Sir Philip Egerton later Grey-Egerton, 9th Bt. took the additional name and supporters of Grey before that of Egerton, a tradition discontinued by his g-g-g-grandson, General Sir David Egerton, 16th Bt, CB Crest Three Arrows two in saltire Argent and one in pale point downwards Or barbed and feathered Sable banded with a Ribbon Gules Helm That of a Baronet Escutcheon Argent a Lion rampant Gules between three Pheons Sable, in centre chief an Inescutcheon Argent charged of a Sinister Hand erect epaumée couped Gules (for a Baronet) Motto VIRTUTI NON ARMIS FIDO Orders The Shield is surrounded by the Bath circlet, inscribed with its motto: TRIA JUNCTA IN UNO

External links

• www.europeanheraldry.org: Egerton