Templer, Gerald

Since 1916 he served in the British Armed Forces. He was enrolled in the Royal Irish Fusilier Regiment and participated in the First World War in his ranks.

In 1919 - 1920, he served in Persia , where British troops took an active part in hostilities against the opponents of the shah who arranged them, and participated in the battles. In the 1920s he served in the British forces in Palestine for a long time, then he graduated from staff college. Since 1932 - at the headquarters of the Southern Command in the metropolis, in 1933 he was transferred to the headquarters of the Northern Command. Active participant in the suppression of the Arab uprising of 1936-1939 , for differences in operations against the Arab rebels awarded the Order. Since 1936 - Officer of the Staff of the 53rd Welsh Infantry Division. From 1938 he served in the Imperial General Staff and in the War Office.

At the beginning of the war, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, was an officer in the military intelligence department at the headquarters of the British Expeditionary Force in France . Together with them, he was evacuated after the defeat of the Allied armies during the French campaign in 1940, showed restraint in a critical situation and helped save a large number of soldiers. Appointed commander of a battalion in the Royal Sussek Infantry Regiment. In the same year he was appointed commander of the 210th Infantry Brigade in the territory of the metropolis. Since 1941 - Chief of Staff of the 5th Army Corps, promoted to brigadier general . In 1942, he commanded the 47th Infantry Division with the rank of Major General , then was appointed commander of the 2nd Army Corps and promoted to the rank of lieutenant general . However, after a few months, he was demoted to the commander of the 56th Infantry Division and, in accordance with the rules of service in the British army, respectively, was lowered to the rank of major general again.

At the head of this division fought in the battles of the North African campaign . Since the summer of 1943 - the commander of the 1st Infantry Division, which showed itself well in the fighting in the Italian campaign . In July 1944, he was appointed commander of the 6th armored division in Italy, but a month later he was seriously wounded when a mine was blown up. After recovering, he was appointed to the headquarters of the 21st Allied Army Group, which fought in France and in West Germany .

After the end of the war in 1945 - the military governor of the British occupation zone of Germany. Since 1946 - Director of Military Intelligence in the War Department of Great Britain. Since 1948 - Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff. Since 1950 - Commander in Chief of the Eastern Command. All British Armed Forces in the Far East, including on organizational issues, and British troops who fought in the Korean War as part of the UN forces were subordinate to this post. Repeatedly visited the combat zone and the location of British troops in South Korea during the war. In 1949 he was granted a knighthood .

Since 1952 - High Commissioner of Great Britain in British Malaya , where at that time there was a fierce war of independence . All the military and civilian authorities of the colony fully obeyed him. During the period of his tenure in this position, Templer managed to change the course of the war and significantly reduce its heat. The main reason for Templer’s success was not so much the military operations as the revised policy in relations with the local population and rebels. He himself described it as "conquering the minds and hearts of the population." Thus, he fully equated all the nationalities of Malaya, including national minorities, in civil and economic rights, thereby depriving the rebels of one of the main propaganda trumps. All voluntarily surrendered rebels were guaranteed amnesty and immediate restoration of rights.

Rejecting large-scale punitive operations, British troops focused on identifying and eliminating guerrilla bases and eliminating rebel leaders. The local population was evicted from the rebel-controlled areas, food supplies were exported or destroyed. The use of herbicides , which destroy commercial crops, was widely used to deprive guerrillas of food.

After the withdrawal of Tepler from Malaya, the policies he began continued to be applied in the future. As a result, by the end of the 1950s, fighting in Malaya almost ceased, being reduced to separate terrorist actions. The war in Malaya was one of the rare examples of victory in the counterguerrilla war in the twentieth century.

Since 1955 - Head of the Imperial General Staff. In 1956 he was promoted to field marshal . In 1958 he was dismissed. In retirement, he focused on the creation and development of the National Military Museum. In 1966-1973 - Lord Lieutenant of Greater London .

He was buried in the chapel of St. George at Windsor Castle .

In Malaysia, it is named after a park located near Kuala Lumpur, founded on his initiative ^[1] .

• 1916 - second lieutenant
• 1918 - lieutenant
• 1928 - captain
• 1938 - Major
• 1939 - Lieutenant Colonel (Lieutenant-Colonel)
• 1941 - Colonel
• 1945 - Major General (as temporarily held this rank since 1942, the term of serving as a rank was established from 1944)
• 1948 - Lieutenant-General (as temporarily held this title in 1942-1943)
• 1950 - General
• 11.27.1956 - Field Marshal

British awards

• Knight of the Order of the Garter ( KG , 1963)
• Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath ( GCB , 1955)
• Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George ( GCMC , 1953)
• Knight - Commander of the Order of the Bath ( KSV , 1951)
• Knight - Commander of the Order of the British Empire ( KBE , 1949)
• Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George ( GCMC , 1946)
• Commander of the Order of the Bath ( CB , 1944)
• Commander of the Order of Distinguished Service ( DSO , 1936 )
• Officer of the Order of the British Empire ( Obe , 1940 )
• Royal victorian medal
• British military medal

Foreign awards

• Commander of the Legion of Honor Order ( USA , 1946)
• Military Cross ( Belgium , 1946)
• Cavalier of the Grand Cross of the Order of the Royal House of Orange-Nassau ( Netherlands , 1946)
• Malay Order

• Heathcote, TA The British Field Marshals 1736-1997. - Pen & Sword Books Ltd., 1999. - ISBN 0-85052-696-5 .