BURNETT-STUART, Gen Sir John Theodosius (1875-1958)

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0099 KCLMA Burnett-Stuart
Held at	: Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.kingscollections.org/catalogues/lhcma ›
Full title	: BURNETT-STUART, Gen Sir John Theodosius (1875-1958)
Date(s)	: Created 1913-1945
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 2 boxes or 0.02 cubic metres
Name of creator(s)	: Stuart | Sir | John Theodosius | Burnett- | 1875-1958 | Knight | General

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Born 1875; educated at Repton and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst; commissioned into the Rifle Brigade, 1895; Lt, 1897; service with the Tochi Field Force, North West Frontier, India, 1897-1898; served in Second Boer War, South Africa, 1899-1902; awarded DSO, 1900; Capt, 1901; served with 4 Bn, The Rifle Brigade, Egypt, 1902-1903; graduated from the Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, 1904; Directorate of Military Operations, War Office, 1904-1910; Director of Organisation, New Zealand Military Forces, 1910-1912; Brevet Maj, 1911; Maj, 1913; Instructor, General Staff Officer 2, Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, 1913-1914; temporary Lt Col, 1913-1915; served in World War One, 1914-1918; General Staff Officer 2, 6 Div, BEF (British Expeditionary Force), France, 1914-1915; General Staff Officer 1, 15 Div, BEF, 1915; Lt Col, 1915; General Staff Officer 1, General Headquarters, BEF, France, 1915-1916; awarded CMG, 1916; Brevet Col, 1916; temporary Brig Gen, 1916-1917; Brig Gen General Staff, General Headquarters, BEF, France, 1916-1917; Brig Gen General Staff, 19 Corps, Western Front, 1917; Brig Gen General Staff, 7 Corps, Western Front, 1917; awarded CB, 1917; temporary Maj Gen, 1917-1919; Deputy Adjutant General, General Headquarters, British Armies in France, 1917-1919; Maj Gen, 1919; General Officer Commanding, Madras District, India, 1920-1922; suppression of the Moplah Rebellion, Malabar, India, 1921-1922; Director of Military Operations and Intelligence, War Office, 1922-1926; created KBE, 1923; General Officer Commanding 3 Div, UK, 1926-1930; directed exercises by the Experimental Mechanised Force, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, 1927; Lt Gen, 1930; General Officer Commanding British Troops in Egypt, 1931-1934; created KCB, 1932; Gen, 1934; General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command, UK, 1934-1938; Aide de Camp General to the King, 1935-1938; Col Commandant, 1 Bn, Rifle Brigade, 1936-1945; appointed GCB, 1937; retired 1938; served I World War Two, 1939-1945; service with Home Guard, 1940-1944; Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace, Aberdeenshire; died 1958.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Copies of unpublished typescript memoirs, 1895-1945, by Burnett-Stuart, Chapter 1-12, 152pp, and Chapters 14-23, 191pp. Papers relating to Belgian military exercises, 1913, including typescript 'Report on the Belgian Grand Manoeuvres 1913' by Capt Harry Cecil Johnson, General Staff, with five printed maps of areas of Belgium, notably Namur, Dinant and Brussels [1913]. Copies of correspondence relating to the Moplah Rebellion, 1921-1922, including correspondence with Col Edward Thomas Humphreys, commanding Malabar Force, Sep 1921-Feb 1922; correspondence with Gen Henry Seymour Rawlinson, 1st Baron Rawlinson of Trent, Commander-in-Chief of the Army in India, Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Baron Willingdon of Ratton, Governor of Madras, Lt Gen Sir William Raine Marshall, General Officer Commanding in Chief, Southern Command, India, Lt Gen Sir John Stuart Mackenzie Shea, General Officer Commanding Central Provinces District, India, Maj Gen Sir Archibald Armar Montgomery, Deputy Chief of General Staff, India, Col Walter Patrick Hore-Ruthven, 2nd Baron Ruthven, commanding Bangalore Bde Area, Southern Command, India, Col Henry Karslake, General Staff Officer 1, Headquarters Peshawar, India, and Col William Henry Beach, Deputy Director (Intelligence), General Staff, India, with typescript copy of order of battle, Malabar Force, India, 1921-1922, and lecture on the Moplah rebellion [1924]. Papers relating to Burnett-Stuart's service as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command, UK, 1934-1938, including typescript memorandum by Burnett-Stuart 'British Defence Policy', Apr 1935; typescript memorandum by FM Sir Cyril John Deverell, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, 'The organisation, armament and equipment of the Army', Nov 1936; typescript volume 'Southern Command. Annual report on training of the regular Army 1936-1937'; typescript address by Burnett-Stuart, 'Southern Command Winter Exercise (The Mobile Division) 1936-1937'.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

Arranged in sections as outlined above.

Conditions governing access:

Open, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, attention of the Director of Archive Services.

Finding aids:

Summary guide available on-line at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/top.htm, and in hard copy in the Centre's reading room.

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Presented to the Centre by the family in 1990. The unpublished memoirs, 1893-1944, were copied by the Centre from originals loaned by the family in 1980 and 1990.

Allied Materials

Related material:

The papers of Gen Sir Charles John Cecil Grant include correspondence with Burnett-Stuart relating to opinions on senior Army commanders, 1941 (Ref: Grant 2/4/1-27). The papers of Maj Gen Sir Percy Cleghorn Stanley Hobart include notes on tactics by Burnett-Stuart, 1937 (Ref: LH 15/11/7). The papers of Capt Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart include correspondence with Burnett-Stuart, 1927-1936, and an obituary, 1958 (Ref: LH 1/132); notes by Liddell Hart on a discussion with Burnett-Stuart on training methods and the War Office, 1935 (Ref: LH 11/1935/90); memorandum by Burnett-Stuart entitled 'General Officer Commanding in Chief's remarks on the organisation and training of a Mobile Division and the 2nd Cavalry Brigade', 1937 (Ref: LH 9/28/67); papers relating to Army training, exercises and tactical schemes, 1937-1939 (Ref: LH 15/3/98). The papers of Maj Gen George Mackintosh Lindsay include correspondence with Burnett-Stuart on mechanisation and the tactical deployment of armoured vehicles, 1929-1932 (Ref: LH 15/12/15); a memorandum by Burnett-Stuart, General Officer Commanding 3 Div, to Maj Gen Charles Bonham-Carter, on the creation of the Royal Tank Corps Group, Egypt, Dec 1931 (Ref: LH 15/12/7). The papers of FM Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein and Hindhead, at the Imperial War Museum, London, include copies of confidential reports on Montgomery by Burnett-Stuart, 1932-1933 and 1937 (Ref: BLM 8/1-2 and BLM 8/7). In private possession, the Crichie Estate Manuscripts, Scotland, include papers relating to Burnett-Stuart's career, 1899-1945, including material relating to the defence of New Zealand, 1910; material relating to the Moplah rebellion, India, 1921; material relating to Army mechanisation, 1931-1937; annual report on the training of the regular Army, 1936-1937; correspondence relating to a proposed British withdrawal from Egypt, 1937; notes on training conferences, 1934-1938; correspondence and memoranda relating to British defence policy, 1936-1937; memoranda relating to British defence policy towards Germany, 1935; three photograph albums, 1899-1922; military pamphlets and journals, 1912-1945; material relating to the Home Guard, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, 1940.

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Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:

Date(s) of descriptions:
Jun 1999