Robert Arkwright


Robert Harry Bertram Arkwright & Bar was a British Army officer who served in World War II and later commanded the 2nd Infantry Division.
Arkwright was born in Bickley, Kent, England, the son of Bertram Harry Godfrey Arkwright and his wife Grace Emma Julia Hurt. Francis Arkwright was his younger brother.

Military career

Arkwright was commissioned into the 12th Royal Lancers in 1924. He served in World War II as Deputy Assistant Adjutant General for 1st Armoured Division in France, as a General Staff Officer with 8th Armoured Division and as Brigadier responsible for Armoured Fighting Vehicles in the British Eighth Army before being made Commander of 23rd Armoured Brigade in 1943. As Commander of the 23rd Armoured Brigade he took part in the Sicily landings, the Italy landings, both part of the Italian Campaign, and later the Civil War in Greece. After the war he became General Officer Commanding 2nd Infantry Division in 1946, Director of the Royal Armoured Corps in 1947 and General Officer Commanding 56th Armoured Division in 1948. His last appointment was as General Officer Commanding 7th Armoured Division from 1949 until his retirement in 1951.
He lived at Pen y Bryn Hall in Montgomery.

Family

In 1927 he married Kathleen Gladys Hanbury.