Captain W.D.M. RAEBURN - Adjutant:
Full name and retiring rank = Maj Gen Sir (William) Digby (Manifold) RAEBURN (1915-2001)
William Digby Manifold Raeburn, the son of Sir Ernest Raeburn, who was in the shipping industry, was born on August 6 1915. He was educated at Winchester and Magdalene, Cambridge, where he took a First in History. He originally intended to follow an uncle and his grandfather into the Navy, but he opted instead for the Scots Guards, into which he was commissioned in 1936. During the Second World War he saw service in North Africa, and in 1945 he was awarded the DSO for his part in an action which took place between April 1 and April 3 near the German town of Nordhorn.
When peace came, Raeburn continued his Army career, becoming Commander 2nd Battalion Scots Guards in 1953; Lieutenant Colonel Commanding Scots Guards in 1958; Commander 1st Guards Brigade Group in 1959; and Commander 51st Infantry Brigade Group in 1960. From 1963 to 1965 he was based at the Ministry of Defence in London as Director of Combat Development (Army), responsible for developing tactical policy. He then spent two and a half years in Oslo as Chief of Staff to C-in-C, Allied Forces, Northern Europe. This was a posting much enjoyed by Raeburn, who was a fine skier - as a schoolboy he had been selected for the British junior Olympic team, but Winchester refused to allow him to take time off from his studies.
From 1968 to 1970 he was Chief Instructor (Army) at the Imperial Defence College (now the Royal College of Defence Studies) in London. He was appointed CB in 1966, and KCVO in 1979. His successful career in the Army was followed with an eight-year appointment as Governor of the Tower of London and Keeper of the Jewel House. He married, in 1960, Adeline ("Addie") Pryor, who skied for Britain in the 1956 Olympics at Cortina. She survives him.
If anyone reading this is based in London and feels like visiting the National Archives and taking a look, there is one file which consists of - Some recollections of a Scots Guardsman, 1935-1947', a memoir covering his military career during the period 1935-1947, notably his service at General HQ, Middle East Land Forces, 1940-1943, and with the Scots Guards in Italy, 1943-1944 and 1947, and Germany, 1945, written in [1992].
Be interesting to see if this includes anything on his time with the 5th Battalion.
25th January 1978: Major General D Raeburn, CB, DSO, MBE, MA, Resident Governor of the Tower of London. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)
http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/vcdf/detail?coll_id=659&inst_id=21&nv1=search&nv2=Reference code(s) : GB 0099 KCLMA Raeburn
Held at : Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London - click here to see details of the physical location of collection
Born in 1915; educated at Winchester College and Magdalene College, Cambridge; commissioned into Scots Guards, 1936; General Staff Officer Grade 3, General HQ, Middle East Land Forces, 1940-1941; HQ, Western Force, Greece, 1941; served with 2 Bn, Scots Guards and at HQ, 22 Guards Bde, 1941; General Staff Officer Grade 2, General HQ, Middle East Land Forces and HQ, 8 Army, 1941-1942; General Staff Officer Grade 1 (Intelligence), General HQ, Palestinian and Iraq Force, 1942-1943; Deputy Director of Military Intelligence, General HQ, Middle East Land Forces, 1943; served with 2 Bn Scots Guards, Italy, 1943-1944, and Germany, 1945; Staff College course, 1945-1946; Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General, Guards Div, 1946-1947; served with 1 Bn, Scots Guards, Italy, 1947; 2nd-in-command, Guards Depot, 1948; Deputy Adjutant and Quartermaster General, London District, 1949; member of Directing Staff, Staff College, 1950-1952; served with 2 Bn, Scots Guards, 1952-1955; member of Senior Directing Staff, Staff College, 1956-1957; Lt Col Commanding Scots Guards, 1958-1959; Commander, 1 Guards Bde and 51 Infantry Bde, 1960-1961; Director of Combat Development (Army), War Office and Ministry of Defence, 1963-1865; Chief of Staff to Commander-in-Chief, Allied Forces, Northern Europe, 1965-1968; Chief Instructor (Army), Imperial Defence College, 1968-1970; retired, 1970; Resident Governor and Keeper of Jewel House, HM Tower of London, 1971-1979; died 2001.
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