Derek Horsford

British Army general (1917–2007)

Derek Horsford

Major General Horsford and Pengiran Yusof in Brunei, 1970

Born| (1917-02-07)7 February 1917
London, United Kingdom
Died| 5 October 2007(2007-10-05) (aged 90)
Allegiance|  United Kingdom
Service / branch|  British Army
Years of service| 1938–1971
Rank| Major-General
Service number| 380035
Commands| 4th Battalion, 1st Gurkha Rifles
1st Bn King's Regiment
24th Infantry Brigade
50th (Northumbrian) Division/District
Yorkshire District
17th Gurkha Division
Battles / wars|

* Second World War
* Battle of Kohima
* Korean War

Awards| Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Distinguished Service Order & bar

Major-General Derek Gordon Thomond Horsford CBE DSO & bar (7 February 1917 – 5 October 2007) was a British Army officer who commanded the 17th Gurkha Division.

## Military career

[edit]

Educated at Clifton College[1] and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Horsford was commissioned into the 8th Gurkha Rifles in Quetta in 1938.[2] He saw active service in the Second World War and became Commanding Officer of 4th Battalion the 1st Gurkha Rifles in 1944.[2] He led his battalion at the Battle of Kohima securing Hunter's Hill in Burma under heavy fire.[2]

After a tour on the staff of General Sir Claude Auchinleck in Delhi, he transferred to the Royal Artillery and became an Instructor at the Staff College, Camberley, in 1950.[2] After service in Korea, he was appointed Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion the King's Regiment on its formation in 1958.[2] After service as Assistant Adjutant-General at the War Office, in 1960 he was appointed Commander of 24th Infantry Brigade in which role he was rushed to Kuwait to respond to the threat from Abdul Kassem who had seized power in Iraq.[2] He went on to be Assistant Chief of Staff (Operations) at the Ministry of Defence in 1964, General Officer Commanding 50th (Northumbrian) Division/District of the Territorial Army in 1966 and General Officer Commanding Yorkshire District in 1967.[3] His last appointments were as General Officer Commanding 17th Gurkha Division and Malaya District in 1969 and Deputy Commander Land Forces, Hong Kong in 1970 before retiring in 1971.[2]

From 1965 to 1970 he was Colonel of the King's Regiment.[4]

## Family

[edit]

In 1948 he married Sheila Kitson (née Crawford); they had a son, a stepson and two stepdaughters.[2] Following the death of his first wife, he married Gillian Moorhouse (née Horsford), who brought him two more stepsons, in 1996.[2]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Clifton College Register" Muirhead, J.A.O. p427: Bristol; J.W Arrowsmith for Old Cliftonian Society; April, 1948
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Obituary: Major-General Derek Horsford The Telegraph, 11 October 2007
3. ^ Army Commands Archived 5 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
4. ^ "The Kings Regiment". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 4 February 2017.

Military offices

Preceded by

Richard Keith-Jones

|  GOC 50th (Northumbrian) Division/District
1966–1967  | Succeeded by

Rex Whitworth
(as GOC North East District)

Preceded by

Arthur Patterson

|  General Officer Commanding 17th Gurkha Division
1969-1970  | Succeeded by

Post Disbanded