William Norman Herbert

William Norman Herbert
Born	1880
Died	1949
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1900–1940
Rank	Major-General
Unit	Northumberland Fusiliers
Commands held	10th Brigade 50th (Northumbrian) Motorised Division 23rd (Northumbrian) Motorised Division
Battles/wars	First World War Second World War
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Distinguished Service Order & Bar

Major General William Norman Herbert CB, CMG, DSO & Bar (1880–1949) was a senior British Army officer who served as colonel of the Northumberland Fusiliers and commanded the 23rd (Northumbrian) Division in the Battle of France during the Second Second World.

Military career

Herbert entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the British Army's Northumberland Fusiliers on 11 August 1900.^[1] He served in the First World War as Commanding Officer (CO) of the 1st Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers in which capacity he captured an enemy position together with fifty-nine prisoners for which he was awarded a bar to his Distinguished Service Order in January 1919.^[2]

He became a staff officer at Northern Command in 1930,^[3] commander of 10th Brigade in March 1932 and General Officer Commanding (GOC) 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division in February 1935.^[4] He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 1 January 1935^[5] and colonel of the Northumberland Fusiliers on 5 July 1935.^[6]

Although he retired in February 1939, he was recalled during the Second World War as GOC 23rd (Northumbrian) Division to lead the deployment of that formation as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in the Battle of France in April 1940.^[7] He retired for a second time when the division was disbanded on 30 June 1940.^[7]

References