GeneralSir Frederick Alfred Pile, 2nd Baronet,GCB,DSO,MC(14 September 1884 – 14 November 1976) was a seniorBritish Armyofficer who served in bothWorld Wars.In theSecond World Warhe wasGeneral Officer CommandingAnti-Aircraft Command,one of the elements that protected Britain from aerial attack.
Sir Frederick Pile | |
|---|---|
 Sir Frederick Pile in 1937 | |
| Nickname(s) | "Tim" |
| Born | 14 September 1884 Dublin,Ireland |
| Died | 14 November 1976(aged 92) London,England |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1904−1945 |
| Rank | General |
| Service number | 3052 |
| Unit | Royal Artillery Royal Tank Regiment |
| Commands | Anti-Aircraft Command(1939–45) 1st Anti-Aircraft Division(1937–39) Canal Brigade(1932–36) |
| Battles / wars | First World War Second World War |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order Military Cross Mentioned in Despatches Commander of the Legion of Merit(United States) Order of the White Eagle[1] |
Early life
editPile was born inDublinas the second child ofSir Thomas Devereux Pile, 1st Baronetand his wife, Caroline Maude Nicholson.[2]Sir Thomas served as theLord Mayor of Dublinfrom 1900 to 1901.
Pile had an older sister and two younger brothers. His youngest brother, Cyril John Pile, served in theRoyal Flying Corpsduring the First World War, and was killed in action in 1917.[3]
After attending theRoyal Military Academy at Woolwich,Pile wascommissionedinto theRoyal Artilleryin July 1904.[4][5]He initially served inIndia,together with Britain and South Africa.[4][6]
Military career
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Pile served in theFirst World Warand was involved in theretreat from Monsand was a Staff Captain with 1st Division before becoming a Brigade Major with 40th Division in 1916.[4]In the closing stages of the War he became aGeneral Staff Officer(GSO) with 22nd Corps in France.[4]He was married in 1915, thricementioned in dispatches,and awarded both theMilitary Cross[7]and theDistinguished Service Order[8]during the war.[9][10]
After the war he was appointed a Brigade Major at Brighton and Shoreham District.[4]He attended theStaff College, Camberleyfrom 1922 to 1923 and transferred to the Royal Tank Corps (later theRoyal Tank Regiment) in 1923.[4][9]In 1928 he becameCommanderof the 1st Experimental Mechanized Force and Assistant Director of Mechanisation at theWar Office.[4]He went to Egypt in 1932 as Commander of the Canal Brigade Mechanized Force.[4]
In 1937 he became General Officer Commanding 1st Anti Aircraft Division. Even before the war started, he foresaw the likely pressures on personnel and investigated whether women would be capable to taking a part in anti-aircraft batteries. He invitedCaroline Haslettof theWomen's Engineering Societyto spend several weekends observing the work of a battery in Surrey and she advised him that women would certainly be able to do the work, as proved to be the case during the war.[11]In 1939, at the start of theSecond World War,he was made General Officer Commanding-in-Chief ofAnti-Aircraft Command,a position he held throughout the war.[4]He was the only British general to retain the same command throughout the entire war. After Dunkirk he issued a General Order telling his men that they were the only British troops still firing at the enemy. He was to tell the story after the war, in his official dispatch and in his bookAck-Ack: Britain's Defence against Air Attack during the Second World War.[12]His plan for "Engagement of Long Range Rockets with AA Gunfire" (gunfire into a radar-predicted airspace to intercept theV-2 rocket) was ready on 21 March 1945 but the plan was not used due to the danger of shells falling onGreater London.[13]
TimPile was considered asCIGSto replaceJohn Dillin October 1941 atBeaverbrook'surging (Pile had been spending weekends with Beaverbrook).Alan Brookewho replaced Dill said that "Tim" Pile had certain valuable qualities but he could not think of aworse selectionas CIGS.[14]
Pile was created aKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath(GCB) in the1945 New Year Honours.[15]After the War he became Director General of Housing with theMinistry of Works.[4]
He was also Colonel Commandant of the Royal Artillery from 1945 to 1952.[4]
Personal life
editIn 1915 Pile married Vera Millicent Lloyd, with whom he had two sons, Frederick Devereux Pile (1915–2010) and John Devereux Pile (1918–1982). In 1932 he married Hester Mary Melba Phillimore. In 1951, he married Molly Eveline Louise Mary Home.[2]
Pile's elder son, Frederick Pile, served as a major in theRoyal Tank Regiment.He won theMilitary Crossduring the British Army's advance into Germany in 1945. He was later promoted to colonel and succeeded to the baronetcy on his father's death in 1976.[16]
Commemoration
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In 1948, a locomotive of theSouthern RailwaySR Battle of Britain Classwas named after Pile atWaterloo stationinLondon.[17][18]After residing atWoodham Brothersscrapyard inBarry, South Walesit was initially preserved at theAvon Valley Railwayfor many years, and then moved to theWatercress Linein 2011.[19][20]Hornby Railwayshave released a model of this locomotive.[21]
Arms
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References
edit- ^Acović, Dragomir (2012).Slava i čast: Odlikovanja među Srbima, Srbi među odlikovanjima.Belgrade: Službeni Glasnik. p. 594.
- ^ab"Frederick Pile".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31549.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^"Cyril John Pile1".thepeerage.com.Retrieved2 April2016.
- ^abcdefghijk"King's Collections: Archive Catalogues: Military Archives".Liddell Hart Centre.
- ^"No. 27707".The London Gazette.23 August 1904. p. 5415.
- ^Doherty 2004,pp. 89–90.
- ^"No. 29886".The London Gazette(Supplement). 29 December 1916. p. 39.
- ^"No. 30450".The London Gazette(Supplement). 29 December 1917. p. 25.
- ^abSmart 2005,p. 251.
- ^Doherty 2004,p. 90.
- ^Roof over Britain, the official story of the AA Defences 1939-42.London: HMSO. 1943. p. 58.
- ^Jacob, Ian (1950). "Review of Ack-Ack: Britain's Defence against Air Attack during the Second World War".International Affairs.26(2): 236.doi:10.2307/2605627.JSTOR2605627.
- ^Ordway, Frederick I III; Sharpe, Mitchell R.The Rocket Team.Apogee Books Space Series 36. p. 262.
- ^Alanbrooke, Field Marshal Lord(2001).War Diaries 1939–1945.Phoenix Press. p. 192.ISBN1-84212-526-5.
- ^"No. 34066".The London Gazette.3 July 1934. p. 4222.
- ^"Colonel Sir Freddy Pile".The Daily Telegraph.29 November 2010.Retrieved31 March2016.
- ^"side view of the locomotive showing the SIR FREDERICK PILE name and crest".Archived fromthe originalon 26 November 2004.
- ^"Pile Family Crest as carried by the Southern Railway (Great Britain)-Southern Railway locomotive".Archived fromthe originalon 26 July 2011.
- ^"34058 – Sir Frederick Pile".34058 Restoration Group. Archived fromthe originalon 20 June 2006.Retrieved8 July2006.
- ^"Rebuilt Bulleid WC/BB 'West Country' and 'Battle of Britain' class 4-6-2".Southern E-Group. 23 June 2003.
- ^"Rebuilt Battle of Britain Class Locomotive – Sir Frederick Pile".Hornby Railways Collector's Guide.Retrieved31 March2016.
- ^Burke's Peerage.1915. p. 1602.
Bibliography
edit- Doherty, Richard(2004).Ireland's Generals in the Second World War.Four Courts Press.ISBN978-1-85182-865-4.
- Mead, Richard (2007).Churchill's Lions: a biographical guide to the key British generals of World War II.Stroud (UK): Spellmount.ISBN978-1-86227-431-0.
- Smart, Nick (2005).Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War.Barnesley: Pen & Sword.ISBN1-84415-049-6.