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Brian Urquhart
Major Sir Brian Edward Urquhart KCMG MBE (/ˈər.kət/ UR-kut) (28 February 1919 – 2 January 2021) was a British Army officer, politician and writer. He played a significant role in the founding of the United Nations. He went on to serve as its Under-Secretary-General for Special Political Affairs.
Urquhart was born in Bridport, Dorset, England, the son of the artist Murray McNeel Caird Urquhart (1880–1972) and the teacher Bertha Rendall (1883–1984). His father abandoned the family in 1925 when Brian was six years old.
After a time at Badminton School in Bristol, where his mother taught, Urquhart won a scholarship to Westminster School and went on to Christ Church, Oxford, before leaving university on the outbreak of war.
When World War II broke out, Urquhart joined the British Army and, after a brief training period, was commissioned as an officer in the Dorsetshire Regiment on 14 January 1940. His service number was 113613. He was posted to the 5th Battalion of his regiment, a recently raised Territorial Army (TA) unit which was part of the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division.
The Battle of France ended before his unit could deploy to the Continent, and he and his men were part of the coastal defence forces in and around Dover during the Battle of Britain. He later transferred to the 1st Airborne Division as an intelligence officer. Urquhart was severely injured in a training drop in August 1942, damaging three vertebrae in his lower spine and breaking several bones. He was warned that his loss of mobility could be permanent, and spent months in the hospital recovering and regaining his strength.
After his recovery, Urquhart served in North Africa and the Mediterranean, before returning to England to participate in the planning of airborne operations associated with Operation Overlord. In the autumn, as the 1st Airborne Corps intelligence officer, he assisted with the planning for Operation Market Garden, an ambitious airborne operation designed to seize the Dutch bridges over the rivers barring the Allied advance into northern Germany. He became convinced that the plan was critically flawed, and attempted to persuade his superiors to modify or abort their plans in light of crucial information obtained from aerial reconnaissance and the Dutch resistance.
The episode was described by Cornelius Ryan in his book on "Market Garden", A Bridge Too Far. In the film version, directed by Richard Attenborough, Urquhart's character (portrayed by Irish actor Frank Grimes) was renamed "Major Fuller", to avoid confusion with the British general Roy Urquhart, the commander of the 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem. The subsequent failure of the operation and the heavy casualties that resulted vindicated Urquhart's judgment. He became deeply depressed by his failure to persuade his superiors to halt the operation, and requested a transfer out of the airborne forces.
After leaving the airborne forces, he was transferred to T-Force, a unit responsible for searching for German scientists and military technology. Urquhart captured the German nuclear scientist Wilhelm Groth.
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Brian Urquhart
Major Sir Brian Edward Urquhart KCMG MBE (/ˈər.kət/ UR-kut) (28 February 1919 – 2 January 2021) was a British Army officer, politician and writer. He played a significant role in the founding of the United Nations. He went on to serve as its Under-Secretary-General for Special Political Affairs.
Urquhart was born in Bridport, Dorset, England, the son of the artist Murray McNeel Caird Urquhart (1880–1972) and the teacher Bertha Rendall (1883–1984). His father abandoned the family in 1925 when Brian was six years old.
After a time at Badminton School in Bristol, where his mother taught, Urquhart won a scholarship to Westminster School and went on to Christ Church, Oxford, before leaving university on the outbreak of war.
When World War II broke out, Urquhart joined the British Army and, after a brief training period, was commissioned as an officer in the Dorsetshire Regiment on 14 January 1940. His service number was 113613. He was posted to the 5th Battalion of his regiment, a recently raised Territorial Army (TA) unit which was part of the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division.
The Battle of France ended before his unit could deploy to the Continent, and he and his men were part of the coastal defence forces in and around Dover during the Battle of Britain. He later transferred to the 1st Airborne Division as an intelligence officer. Urquhart was severely injured in a training drop in August 1942, damaging three vertebrae in his lower spine and breaking several bones. He was warned that his loss of mobility could be permanent, and spent months in the hospital recovering and regaining his strength.
After his recovery, Urquhart served in North Africa and the Mediterranean, before returning to England to participate in the planning of airborne operations associated with Operation Overlord. In the autumn, as the 1st Airborne Corps intelligence officer, he assisted with the planning for Operation Market Garden, an ambitious airborne operation designed to seize the Dutch bridges over the rivers barring the Allied advance into northern Germany. He became convinced that the plan was critically flawed, and attempted to persuade his superiors to modify or abort their plans in light of crucial information obtained from aerial reconnaissance and the Dutch resistance.
The episode was described by Cornelius Ryan in his book on "Market Garden", A Bridge Too Far. In the film version, directed by Richard Attenborough, Urquhart's character (portrayed by Irish actor Frank Grimes) was renamed "Major Fuller", to avoid confusion with the British general Roy Urquhart, the commander of the 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem. The subsequent failure of the operation and the heavy casualties that resulted vindicated Urquhart's judgment. He became deeply depressed by his failure to persuade his superiors to halt the operation, and requested a transfer out of the airborne forces.
After leaving the airborne forces, he was transferred to T-Force, a unit responsible for searching for German scientists and military technology. Urquhart captured the German nuclear scientist Wilhelm Groth.