William Stratton (British Army officer)

Lieutenant General

Sir William Stratton
Lieutenant General; Sir William Stratton
Born	15 October 1903; Madras, British India
Died	25 November 1989 (aged 86)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1924−1960
Rank	Lieutenant General
Service number	27948
Unit	Royal Engineers
Commands held	Commander British Forces in Hong Kong; 42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division; 169th Infantry Brigade
Battles/wars	Second World War
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath; Commander of the Royal Victorian Order; Commander of the Order of the British Empire; Distinguished Service Order

Lieutenant General Sir William Henry Stratton KCB, CVO, CBE, DSO (15 October 1903 – 25 November 1989) was a senior British Army officer who was Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong from 1955 to 1957.

Military career

Stratton was born on 15 October 1903 in British India but later went to England and, after graduating from the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on 30 January 1924.^[1]^[2] He was deployed to the Gold Coast before becoming Assistant Instructor at the Royal School of Military Engineering in 1933.^[2]

He served in the Second World War as a brigadier on the General Staff of General Headquarters Home Forces and then of the General Staff of the 8th Army in Italy.^[2] In 1944 he was appointed Commander of 169th Infantry Brigade.^[2]

After the war he was appointed Chief of Staff at British Army of the Rhine, a post he held until 1949 when he became Commandant of the Joint Services Staff College.^[2] In 1952 he became Head of the British Army Staff in Washington, D.C.^[2] He went on to be General Officer Commanding 42nd (Lancashire) Division in 1953 and Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong in 1955.^[2] He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1957 New Year Honours.^[3] His last post was Vice Chief of the Imperial General Staff in 1957; he retired in 1960.^[2]

He was also Colonel Commandant of the Royal Engineers from 1960 to 1968.^[2]

References

^ "No. 32903". The London Gazette. 1 February 1924. p. 958.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "Sir William Henry Stratton". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. Archived from the original on 24 September 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
^ "No. 40960". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 1956. p. 3.

External links

Military offices
Preceded by Cyril Douglas-Pennant	Commandant of the Joint Services Staff College 1949–1952	Succeeded by ??
Preceded by Valentine Blomfield	GOC 42nd (Lancashire) Division 1953−1955	Succeeded by Thomas Scott
Preceded by Sir Cecil Sugden	Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong 1955–1957	Succeeded by Sir Edric Bastyan
Preceded by Sir William Oliver	Vice Chief of the Imperial General Staff 1957–1960	Succeeded by Sir William Pike