Francis Nosworthy

Sir Francis Nosworthy
Born	21 September 1887
Died	9 July 1971
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1907 - 1945
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands held	5th Infantry Brigade IV Corps IX Corps West Africa Command
Battles/wars	World War I Third Anglo-Afghan War World War II
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order Military Cross

Lieutenant General Sir Francis Poitiers Nosworthy KCB DSO MC (21 September 1887 – 9 July 1971) was Commander-in-Chief of West Africa Command during World War II.

Military career

Educated at Exeter School and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Nosworthy was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1907.^[1] He took part in the Abor and Mishmi expedition to India in 1912 and served in World War I as a General Staff Officer in France.^[1] After taking part in the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, he was appointed Second in Command of the Sudan Defence Force in 1926, Commander of 5th Infantry Brigade at Aldershot Command in 1935 and Deputy Chief of the General Staff at Army Headquarters in India in 1938.^[1] He served in World War II as Commander of IV Corps from 1940: after the Norwegian Campaign ended, the Corps commanded most of the armoured reserves preparing to face the proposed German invasion of Britain (Operation Sea Lion), while the other corps headquarters which had been evacuated from Dunkirk in Operation Dynamo were reorganised. Under Nosworthy's command IV Corps was envisaged as a counter-attack force.^[2] He continued as Commander of IX Corps in Tunisia from 1942 and as Commander-in-Chief of West Africa Command from 1943.^[1] He retired in February 1945.^[3]

References

1. Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
2. Bryant: Alanbrooke diary 18 September 1940
3. British Military History

• Bryant, Sir Arthur, The Turn of the Tide: Based on the War Diaries of Field Marshal Viscount Alanbrooke, London: Collins, 1957.