Major General "Pip" Roberts

Major-General George Philip Bradley Roberts
Nickname: Pip

Born 05.11.1906
Died 1997

Decorations: Military Cross (8.7.1941); Mention in Despatches (15.12.1942 & 9.8.1945); Distinguished Service Order (13.8.1942) and Bar (28.1.1943 & 8.7.1943); Companion of the Order of the Bath (1.2.1945); Officier Légion d'Honneur; Croix de Guerre avec palmes

04.02.1926 2nd Lieutenant
04.02.1929 Lieutenant
30.09.1936 Captain
04.01.1942 War Substantive/Major
04.02.1943 Major
26.01.1943 War Substantive/Lieutenant-Colonel
06.12.1944 War Substantive/Colonel
18.06.1947 (sen. 24.3.1945) Major-General

Education: Marlborough; Royal Military College, Sandhurst

04.02.1926 commissioned, Royal Tank Corps (initially stationed at Lydd)
00.00.1928-00.00.1931 served, 3rd Armoured Car Company, Royal Tank Corps (Egypt)
00.00.1931-00.01.1933 served, ? (Egypt)
21.01.1933-20.01.1937 Assistant Instructor, Tank Driving & Maintenance School (Bovington, Dorset, UK)
00.01.1937-06.12.1938 served, 6th Battalion Royal Tank Regiment (Egypt)
07.12.1938-15.03.1940 Adjutant, 6th Battalion Royal Tank Regiment (Egypt)
16.03.1940-00.12.1940 Deputy Assistant Quartermaster-General, 7th Armoured Division (N Africa) (A/Maj., from 16.6.1940-19.7.1940 & 17.10.1940-3.1.1942 T/Maj.)
00.12.1940 Brigade Major, 4th Armoured Brigade (N Africa)
00.03.1941 General Staff Officer 2nd grade (GSO2), 7th Armoured Division (N Africa)
04.10.1941-03.01.1942 Assistant Quartermaster-General, XXX Corps (N Africa) (A/Lt.Col.)
04.01.1942 Commanding Officer, 3rd Battalion Royal Tank Regiment (N Africa) (from 4.1.1942-25.1.1943 T/Lt.Col. )
23.07.1942-17.09.1942 Commander, 22nd Armoured Brigade Group (Egypt) (from 23.7.1942-14.8.1942 & 21.8.1942-25.1.1943 A/Col. & A/Brig.), redesignated:
17.09.1942-20.01.1943 Commander, 22nd Armoured Brigade (Egypt, Libya) (A/Brig.)
20.01.1943-25.01.1943 acting General Officer Commanding, 7th Armoured Division (Lybia) (A/Brig.)
26.01.1943- (from 26.1.1943-5.12.1944 T/Col. & T/Brig.)
13.03.1943-19.06.1943 Commander, 26th Armoured Brigade (N Africa)
20.07.1943-06.12.1943 Commander, 30th Armoured Brigade (UK)
06.12.1943-00.00.1946 General Officer Commanding, 11th Armoured Division (UK, NW Europe) (A/Maj.Gen., from 6.12.1944 T/Maj.Gen.)
00.00.1947-00.00.1948 General Officer Commanding, 7th Armoured Division
00.00.1948 General Officer Commanding Hanover District, Germany
00.00.1948-00.00.1949 Director, Royal Armoured Corps, War Office (London)
11.09.1949 retired

1949-1964 Director of Scribbans-Kemp, biscuit, cake and sweet manufacturers

1963-1970 Honorary Colonel, Kent and County of London Yeomanry Squadron, The Royal Yeomanry Regiment, T&AVR

1960-1970 Justice of the Peace, County of Kent

http://houterman.htmlplanet.com/bio/Roberts_GPB.html

If someone has info on Pip´s life please send it here!

 

*Bump*

 

Great kai. He was the youngest divisional commanders in the British Army when he took over 11th armoured. he was also one of the best armour tacticians in the western armies. he helped pioneer all arms operations in the normandy campaign when the british were found lacking. when given the freedom to operate he succeeded brilliantly. only when he was limited by the powers that be, most notably dempsey during goodwood, was things harder for him.

 

Absolutely - I've always thought that Roberts is another of those 'great unknowns' who got on with the job....

 

Kai if your interested roberts produced a biography. this is it:

Roberts G P B (1987) From the Desert to the Baltic

 

thanx Mahross!

I´ll put it on paper so I remember it next time I go abroad!

 

Thanks for that, mahross - that's one I didn't know about & shall watch out for...

 

G'day

11th Armoured liberated my hometown and he has a street named after him over here.

Popski

 

Wow! Pics!

 

Hi, so good to see some information here about Pip Roberts. Indeed one of the great unknown.
I wuld like to read more in the biography but unfortunately the link isn't working.
For an essay I am looking for some personal information on him. Does anybody know if he was married and had children or grandchildren?

It would be great to have some inside information on him too!

Thanks!

 

Pip Roberts had four children - two sons and two daughters. I am married to his elder son, Nicholas and we have two sons of our own. George and Charlie. Let me know if you would like any more info.

sarah roberts

 

Welcome to the Forum, Sarah!

I found the following links:

Summary Guide: ROBERTS G P B


The entry at this site Divisional Commanders of 7th Armoured Division says


"PIP" ROBERTS (1906-1997)

Major-General George Philip Bradley Roberts CB, DSO, MC was a charismatic wartime commander of 11th Armoured Division, and rated the best British armoured divisional commander of the war, Gen "Pip" Roberts was the first (and only) peacetime commander of 7th Armoured Division. He was no stranger to the Division, having been the DAQMG when the Italians invaded Egypt in 1940, GS02 during the Brevity and Battleaxe operations, Commanding Officer of 3rd RTR, Commander of 22nd Armoured Brigade and had commanded the Division for four days (20th-24th January 1943) when Gen Harding was wounded. He would command the "Desert Rats" through the early postwar days to their first disbandment in January 1948. He then became Director of the Royal Armoured Corps and retired from the Army in September 1949. His book From the Desert to the Baltic is a very readable account of all his wartime battles.

http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/issues/36917/supplements/669/page.pdf

CENTRAL CHANCERY OF THE ORDERS OF
KNIGHTHOOD.​

St. James's Palace, S.W.i,
ist February, ​

​

​

1945.

The KING has been graciously pleased to give
orders for the following appointments to the Most
Honourable Order of the Bath, in recognition of
gallant and distinguished services in North West
Europe: —
​

To be Additional Members of the Military Division
of the Third Class, or Companions, of the said
Most Honourable Order: ​

​

​

—
Brigadier (temporary) Geoffrey Paul Hardy-Roberts,
C.B.JE. (36763), gth Queen's Royal Lancers, Royal
Armoured Corps (Res. of Ofi.).
Major-General (acting) Lewis Owen Lyne, D.S.O.
(22301), late The Lancashire Fusiliers.
Major-General (temporary) Gordon Holmes Alexander
(MacMillan, C.B.E., D.S.O., M.C. (5880), late The
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess
Louise's).
Major-General (temporary) George Philip Bradley
Roberts, D.S.O., M.C. {34890), late Royal Tank
Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps.
Major-General (temporary) Robert Knox Ross,
D.S.O., M.C. (5517), late The Queen's Royal Regiment​

(West Surrey).

World War II unit histories & officers

George Philip Bradley Roberts - VisWiki

 

Hello Sarah!

I´ve been away due to illness so did not notice this until now.

I was wondering if it´s possible to have any wartime pics here of Pip? It seems there is nothing much in the net.

Greetings!

Kai-Petri

 

I have a photo of Pip my Dad took in 1945 would you like to see it? I will be happy to post it.

Tom

 

give me a few days to scan the photo and what my dad wrote.

Tom Bythell

 

Hello Tom,
I am sure many of the members of the forum and guests would enjoy the photo.

Thanks for offering.

Richard

 

View attachment 13663

 

Hello Sarah. My great aunt was Jessie Honor Cassandra Gell....she married Lt. William Bradley Roberts at Ripple in Worcestershire in 1905. They lived at Quetta where Jessie unhappily died only two years later leaving a child. Could that child be your father-in-law? Given that 'Pip' Roberts was born in Quetta and bares one name of my great uncle and the name Philip which is a 'family name', the evidence points to the affirmative! I have lots of info on Jessie's family if it interests you. Best wishes, Tim

 

Well, if you've been collecting books for as long as I have, rummaging in countless old bookshops and militaria fairs etc, and still haven't even seen a copy of a certain book - then it MUST be quite hard to find !

So it was with Pip Roberts' memoir - I have finally given up and resorted to e-bay. So, I now have a perfect first edition which can now take its place on my shelf of Normandy accounts.......

 

General Pip Roberts was a regular VI veteran form the Army Staff College Staff Ride to Normandy. Interviews as well as wartime photos and film can be seen in the SSVC film "Operation Goodwood" startinn about 6'51" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udW1UvSHXfY&list=PLMAcfCrPtB1wv16ndjyVusuSjjZqOwEXr&index=1&nohtml5=False