Walter Oxley

Walter Hayes Oxley
Half-length portrait of Major-General Walter Hayes Oxley in military uniform, 1943.
Born	2 January 1891 London, England
Died	23 January 1978 (aged 87)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	British Army
Years of service	1911–1948
Rank	Major General
Service number	543
Unit	Royal Engineers
Commands	232nd Infantry Brigade 7th Infantry Brigade Malta
Battles / wars	First World War Second World War
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Military Cross[1] Mentioned in dispatches

Major General Walter Hayes Oxley, CB, CBE, MC (2 January 1891, London, Great Britain – 23 January 1978) was a British Army officer who fought during World War I and World War II.^[2]

Military career

Oxley was educated at Eastbourne College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, from where he was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in July 1911.^[3][4] Later he was promoted to lieutenant in 1913. In the First World War Oxley served in Egypt, then he served at the Salonika front. During 1916–1917 Oxley fought in Palestine and Egypt to the end of the war.^[5]

He attended the Staff College, Camberley from 1925−1926, where the Australian Sydney Rowell was a classmate.^[5] He was promoted major in 1926 and lieutenant-colonel in 1931. Afterwards Oxley was military attache at Belgrade in 1929–32. Oxley was promoted colonel in 1934. In 1937 he was assistant adjutant and quartermaster-general for the British Military Mission to Egypt. Oxley became a local brigadier in 1939.

Major-General Oxley (left) flying to Sofia during his time with the Allied Control Commission.

Between 1939 and 1940,during the Second World War, Oxley was assistant adjutant and quartermaster-general in Malta and in 1940–1941 commanding officer of the Northern Brigade there. In 1942 Oxley served as commanding officer of the 7th Infantry Brigade. In 1942–1943 he was deputy director of military training in the War Office. During 1943–1944 he became a general officer commanding in Malta. During 1944–1947 Oxley served as a member of the Allied Control Commission in Bulgaria. He tried to resist the growing Soviet influence in the country, but did not receive support from London. In 1948 Oxley was retired.^[6] Afterwards he went to live in Charminster, near Dorchester, where he farmed.^[7]

References

1. "No. 13186". The Edinburgh Gazette. 2 January 1918. p. 49.
2. A Great War M.C. group of eleven to Major-General W. H. Oxley, Royal Engineers.
3. Lot 1082, Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria (29 June 2006).
4. "No. 28524". The London Gazette. 22 August 1911. p. 6227.
5. Smart 2005, p. 241.
6. Хронос, Биографический указатель- Оксли Уолтер Хейес.
7. The Royal engineers journal. Volume No. 3, sep. 1978, p. 198.

Bibliography

• Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 1844150496.

External links

• Photo of the heads of the Allied Control Commission in Sofia. Second from the left, General Walter Oxley (Great Britain), third from the left, General John Alden Crane (USA), in front, General Sergey Biryuzov (USSR), May 10, 1945.
• Generals of World War II

Military offices
Preceded by Ronald Scobie	GOC Malta March−August 1943	Succeeded by William Robb