David McDowall | |
---|---|
Born | 16 August 1954 |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | British Army |
Years of service | 1973–2009 |
Rank | Major General |
Commands held | 2nd Division 1st Signals Brigade |
Battles/wars | Operation Banner Bosnian War |
Awards | Commander of the Order of the British Empire |
Major General David McDowall, CBE (born 16 August 1954) is a former British Army officer who commanded the 2nd Division from 2007 to 2009.
McDowall joined the British Army as a private in the Royal Corps of Signals at the age of 18. [1] He was commissioned into the corps in 1981, [2] and later commanded a squadron in operations in Northern Ireland and a regiment in operations during the Bosnian War. [1] He went on to be commander 1st Signal Brigade and then Signal Officer-in-Chief, [3] before being appointed General Officer Commanding 2nd Division and Governor of Edinburgh Castle [4] in 2007 and retiring in 2009. [5]
McDowall has served as a member of the British Government's Panel on Fair Access to the Professions, [6] and military advisor to the First Minister of Scotland. [7]
McDowall is married to Valerie; they have two sons and a daughter. [1]
General Sir Richard Nugent O'Connor, was a senior British Army officer who fought in both the First and Second World Wars, and commanded the Western Desert Force in the early years of the Second World War. He was the field commander for Operation Compass, in which his forces destroyed a much larger Italian army – a victory which nearly drove the Axis from Africa, and in turn, led Adolf Hitler to send the Afrika Korps under Erwin Rommel to try to reverse the situation. O'Connor was captured by a German reconnaissance patrol during the night of 7 April 1941 and spent over two years in an Italian prisoner of war camp. He eventually escaped after the fall of Mussolini in the autumn of 1943. In 1944 he commanded VIII Corps in the Battle of Normandy and later during Operation Market Garden. In 1945 he was General Officer in Command of the Eastern Command in India and then, in the closing days of British rule in the subcontinent, he headed Northern Command. His final job in the army was Adjutant-General to the Forces in London, in charge of the British Army's administration, personnel and organisation.
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