Major General Walter David Alexander Lentaigne (1899-1955) British Indian Army - often known as Joe Lentaigne. The Indian Army in the time of the British Raj (1857–1947) // Administrative Name The Indian Army is the name for the Indian Armed forces of that country; the meaning of that name changed over time: History The Indian Army was formed after the Indian Mutiny in 1857 by the...

Best known for replacing Major General Orde Wingate as commander of the Chindits when Wingate was killed in an air crash. Major General Orde Charles Wingate, (February 26, 1903 – March 24, 1944), was a British major general and creator of two special military units during the World War II. // Beginnings Orde Wingate was born February 23, 1903 in India to a military family. ... The Chindits (Officially in 1942 77th Indian Infantry Brigade and in 1943 Indian 3rd Infantry Division) were a British Indian Army Special Force that served in Burma and India from 1942 until 1945 during the Burma Campaign in World War II. They were formed into long range penetration groups trained...

• 1899 Born
• 1918 Joined 4th Prince of Wales's Own Gurkha Rifles
• 1919 Third Anglo-Afghan War
• 1919-1924 Served in Waziristan, North West Frontier
• 1925-1929 Garrison and Depot duty, Bakloh, India
• 1930-1934 Served in Tirah, North West Frontier
• 1935-1936 Attended British Army Staff College, Camberley
• 1936-1939 Waziristan, North West Frontier
• World War II
  • 1938-1941 Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General at General Headquarters(GHQ) India
  • 1941-1942 Instructor at the Indian Army Staff College, Quetta
  • 1942 Commanding Officer 1st Battalion, 4th Gurkhas. Took part in the arduous retreat through Burma, into India
  • 1943 Temporarily commanded 63 Indian Infantry Brigade in Imphal, India. Subsequently raised 111 Indian Infantry Brigade, a Long Range Penetration formation.
  • 1944 Led 111 Brigade in Operation Thursday, the second Chindit operation. On 24th March 1944 succeeded to command of Special Force / 3rd Indian Infantry Division, on the death of Major General Orde Wingate in an air crash. Commanded the Chindits until it they were disbanded early in 1945.
• 1945 General Officer Commanding 39th Indian Division
• 1946 Attended Imperial Defence College
• 1947 Director of Military Operations and Deputy Quartermaster General at GHQ India
• 1948-1955 Commandant of the Indian Army Staff College, Wellington.
• 1955 Retired as Lieut-General and died soon afterwards

Lentaigne was an outsider in the Chindit organization. He was appointed by General Wavell in the spring of 1943 during the first Chindit operation to raise 111th Indian Brigade as a second Chindit Brigade. Because Wingate was operations, he was unable to influence the choice. Wingate's dislike of Indian Army officers and in particular officers of Gurkha battalions also worked against Lentaigne. He objected to the appointment after he learned of it but was unable to do anything about. The Rise of Dost Mohammad It was not until 1826 that the energetic Dost Mohammad was able to exert sufficient control over his brothers to take over the throne in Kabul, where he proclaimed himself amir. ... Flag of Waziristan Waziristan (Urdu: وزیرستان) is a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering some 11 585 km² (4,473 mi²). It comprises the area west and southwest of Peshawar between the Tochi River to the north and the Gomal River to the south, forming part of Pakistan... The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) is the smallest of the four provinces of Pakistan and is home to the Pashtuns (Afghans) and various other groups. ... Tirah is a mountainous tract of country in the west-central North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan. ... Camberley is a town in Surrey, England, situated about twenty-nine miles south-west of London, in the corridor between the M3 and M4 motorways. ... Quetta (کویتہ) is the capital of the province Balochistan in Pakistan. ... The Chindits (Officially in 1942 77th Indian Infantry Brigade and in 1943 Indian 3rd Infantry Division) were a British Indian Army Special Force that served in Burma and India from 1942 until 1945 during the Burma Campaign in World War II. They were formed into long range penetration groups trained... The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) is an internationally-renowned institution and component of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. ...

Lentaigne's eventual appointment as successor to Wingate caused controversy among the Chindit officers. Lieutenant-General William Slim, the commander of Fourteenth Army wrote of the decsion, 'To step into Wingate's place would be no easy task. His successor had to be someone known to the men of Special Force, one who had shared their hardships and in whose skill and in whose skill and courage they could trust. I chose Brigadier Lentaigne. He not only fulfilled all these requirements, I also knew him to be, in addition, to be the most balanced and experienced of Wingate's commanders' (p. 224; Defeat into Victory, 1956; 1958: Four Square Books, London).Though amongst his rivals for the position among the Chindit officers there was some criticism of this decision, on the basis that Lentaigne was the Chindit leader least in tune with Wingate's methods and tactics. Also, he had commanded 111 Brigade in the field for only a few weeks, during which his Brigade Major, John Masters, had worried that he was too old to lead effectively. Field Marshal Sir William Slim (pictured here as a Major General) Field Marshal William Joseph Slim, 1st Viscount Slim (6 August 1897 - 14 December 1970), British military commander and 13th Governor-General of Australia, was born near Bristol, Gloucestershire. ... The British Fourteenth Army, in spite of its name, was a multinational force: most of its units were from the Indian Army and there were also significant contributions from East African divisions within the British Army. ... John Masters (1914–1983) was an English officer in the British Indian Army and novelist. ...

On the other hand, Lentaigne had been a distinguished battalion commander who had fought during the 1942 Burma campaign. The other Chindit brigade commanders were unknown quantities lacking Staff College qualifications or significant time in command of even a battalion sized formation. Additionally, there was no clear successor to Wingate among his closest subordinates. Each of them thought that they would have been (or were) Wingate's obvious successor.

Much of the criticism of Lentaigne's conduct in the 1944 operations revolves around orders he was given by higher commanders. Many of his critics fault him for carrying out orders which they personally considered contrary to Wingate's plan and strategy.

Brigadier John P Dalvi, famous for his precise criticism, in his book, 'Himalayan Blunder' of the reasons that led to the defeat of the Indian Army in 1962 at the hands of the Chinese, wrote of how as a young officer he attended the Staff College at Wellington, and was critical of Joe Lentaigne's abrupt interruption of a senior government official's speech at a conference, asking him if the government felt secure on India's north-eastern from any possibility of a Chinese attack.

See also

• John Masters subsequent commander of 111 Brigade.
• Joseph Stilwell American General.

John Masters (1914–1983) was an English officer in the British Indian Army and novelist. ... Joseph Warren Stilwell (March 19, 1883 – October 12, 1946) was a United States Army four-star general best-known for his service in China. ...

External links

• Lentaigne's entry in the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
• Lentaigne's entry at Generals.dk
• Official websitefor The Chindits
• Office of the US Surgeon General Office of Medical History: Book 4, With Wingate's Chindits