George Forty

George Forty OBE
Born	(1927-09-10)10 September 1927 London,England
Died	19 May 2016(2016-05-19)(aged 88)
Education	Ashville College,Harrogate,Yorkshire
Alma mater	Queen's College, Oxford
Occupation	Military writer & museum director
Spouse	Anne Forty
Children	4
Military career
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1945-71
Unit	1st Royal Tank Regiment
Battles/wars	Korean War *Third Battle of the Hook

George FortyOBE(10 September 1927 – 19 May 2016) was aBritish Armyofficer who was chief of staff of theRoyal Armoured Corpsgunnery school and later director ofthe Tank Museum,and also author of many books on warfare.

Education and military career

Forty was born in London and educated atAshville Collegeand atQueen's College,Oxford University.

He joined the British Army in 1945, and was part of the first post-war class commissioned from theRoyal Military Academy Sandhurstin 1948.He served in theBritish Army of the Rhinein the1st Royal Tank Regiment,in Korea, where he was wounded in theThird Battle of the Hookin May 1953, and inAden,thePersian GulfandBorneoin command of an armoured reconnaissance squadron. After attending theStaff Collegein 1959, he held appointments at theArmy Air Corps Centreand the Royal Armoured Corps Tactical, Signals and Gunnery Schools before retiring in 1971.

Writer and museum director

Forty published more than 70 books with a focus onarmoured warfareand also on wartime inDorset.From 1981 until his retirement in 1993 he served as the curator (director) of theTank Museum.He modernised and greatly expanded it,becoming known as the "father of the Tank Museum".Forty's wife, Anne, worked with him at the Tank Museum. They had four sons,one of whom works at theRoyal Signals Museum.

Honours

Forty was elected a Fellow of theMuseums Associationand in 1994 was appointed an OBE.

Works

• Hitler's Atlantic Wall
• The Japanese Army Handbook 1939-1945(1999)
• Companion to the British Army 1939-45
• US Marine Corps Handbook 1941-1945
• Patton's Third Army at War
• Desert Rats at War
• World Encyclopedia of Tanks and Armoured Vehicles
• Tiger Tank Battalions in World War II
• Battle of Crete
• The Armies of Rommel
• Road to Berlin
• The Soldier's Story: WWII German Infantryman
• The Reich's Last Gamble: The Ardennes Offensive, December 1944