Major-General Alwyne Michael Webster Whistler CB CBE (30 December 1909 – 30 September 1993) was a British Army officer who served chiefly with the Royal Corps of Signals, spending many years in India and Germany.
During the Second World War Whistler saw active service against the Japanese in Burma. He ended his career as Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Signals) and was also Colonel Commandant of the Royal Corps of Signals.[1]
Life[]
The son of the Rev. W. W. Whistler of Elsted, Sussex, by his marriage to Lilian Whistler Meade, Whistler was educated at Gresham's School and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, after which he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Royal Corps of Signals in 1929. From 1932 to 1944 he served in India, and was Master of Fox Hounds to the Nerbudda Vale Hunt from 1938 to 1940. In 1944 he passed the Staff College, then fought in the Burma campaign with the 19th and 25th Indian Divisions and the Twelfth Army, being twice mentioned in despatches. In 1946 he was posted to Berlin and was Military Adviser to the Military Governor of Germany, 1946 to 1948. After a year as Assistant Quartermaster-General at the War Office, he went to the Combined Staff College in 1950. He was commanding officer of the Royal Signals, 3rd Division, 1951–1954, a Colonel at the War Office, 1955–1957, a Colonel of Far East Land Forces, 1957–1958, commanding officer of Corps of Royal Signals, 1 (British) Corps, BAOR, 1959–1960, then Signal Officer-in-Chief at the War Office, 1960–1962. His next posting was as Chairman of the British Joint Communications Board at the Ministry of Defence, from 1962 to 1964, before he completed his career as Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Signals), 1964–1965.[1][2]
In 1936, he married Margaret Louise Michelette Welch, a daughter of Brigadier-General Malcolm Welch, of Stedham, Sussex, and they had one son and two daughters. His wife died in 1986, and Whistler himself in 1993.[2]
Honours[]
- CBE, Birthday Honours, 1960[2][3]
- CB (military division), 1963[2][4]
- Hon. Colonel, Princess Louise's Kensington Regiment (41st Signals) Territorial Army, 1963–1966[2]
- Colonel Commandant, Royal Corps of Signals, 1964–1968[2]
- Hon. Colonel, 32nd (Scottish) Signal Regiment (Volunteers), 1967–1972[2][5]
- Princess Mary Medal, Royal Signals Institution, 1978[2]
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Philip Warner, The Vital Link: the story of Royal Signals, 1945-1985 (1989), p. 338
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 'WHISTLER, Maj.-Gen. Alwyne Michael Webster', in Who Was Who 1991–1995 (London: A. & C. Black, 1996, ISBN 0-7136-4496-6)
- ↑ Recommendation for Award for Whistler, Alwyne Michael Webster, Rank Brigadier at nationalarchives.gov.uk, accessed 27 January 2014
- ↑ The London Gazette (Supplement) dated 11 June 1963, p. 3978
- ↑ The London Gazette, issue 44307 (Supplement) dated 9 May 1967, p. 5193
External links[]
- Alwyne Michael Webster Whistler at National Portrait Gallery, London
The original article can be found at Alwyne Michael Webster Whistler and the edit history here.