{{Short description|British Army general}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}} {{Infobox military person | honorific_prefix = [[General (United Kingdom)|General]] | name = Sir Eric de Burgh | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCB|DSO|OBE}} | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | nickname = | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1881|05|10}}<ref>''UK, British Army Lists, 1882–1962''</ref> | birth_place = [[Naas]], County Kildare, Ireland | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1973|2|6|1881|05|10}}<ref>''England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1995''</ref> | death_place = [[Wexford]], County Wexford, Ireland | burial_place = [[Maudlin's Cemetery]] | allegiance = United Kingdom | branch = [[British Army]]<br/>[[British Indian Army]] | service_years = 1901–1941 | rank = [[General (United Kingdom)|General]] | service_number = 3737 | unit = | commands = [[Chief of the General Staff (India)|Chief of the General Staff in India]]<br/>[[1st Indian Division]]<br/>[[Rawalpindi District]]<br/>[[Lahore District]]<br/>[[1st (Risalpur) Cavalry Brigade]] | battles = [[Second Boer War]]<br/>[[First World War]]<br/>[[Third Anglo-Afghan War]]<br/>[[Second World War]] | awards = [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]]<br/>[[Distinguished Service Order]]<br/>[[Officer of the Order of the British Empire]] | spouse = {{marriage|Mary Fanshawe|1923|1934|end=d.}} | relations = | other_work = }} [[File:De Burgh gravestone, Naas Maudlin.jpg|thumb|Tombstone of General de Burgh and his wife, [[Maudlin's Cemetery]]]] [[General (United Kingdom)|General]] '''Sir Eric de Burgh''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100|sep=,|KCB|DSO|OBE}} ({{IPAc-en|lang|d|_|'|b|ɜːr|}}; {{respell|d’|BER}}; 10 May 1881 – 6 February 1973) was a [[British Indian Army]] officer who served as [[Chief of the General Staff (India)|Chief of the General Staff in India]] from 1939 to 1941.
==Military career== Educated at [[Marlborough College]] and the [[Colonial College]], [[Hollesley Bay, Suffolk|Hollesley Bay]], De Burgh was [[Commissioned officer|commissioned]] into the 3rd ([[Militia (United Kingdom)|Militia]]) Battalion, [[Royal Dublin Fusiliers]], as a [[second lieutenant]] in October 1901. In February 1902 he was seconded for service with [[mounted infantry]] during the [[Second Boer War]],<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=27417 |page=1887 |date=18 March 1902}}</ref><ref name="iwm">[http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1030018820 Private Papers of General Sir Eric de Burgh], [[Imperial War Museum]], London, UK.</ref> with the local rank of [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] whilst serving in South Africa.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27425 |page=2507 |date=15 April 1902}}</ref> After the end of the war in South Africa, he was in January 1903 transferred to the regular army, where he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the [[Manchester Regiment]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue= 27519|date=27 January 1903 |page=533}}</ref> He was seconded to the Indian Army later the same year, and served in the [[19th Lancers (Fane's Horse)]]. He attended the [[Staff College, Camberley]] from 1913 to 1914.{{sfn|Smart|2005|p=79}}
De Burgh served in the [[First World War]] and saw action at the [[Battle of Neuve Chapelle]] in March 1915, the month he was made a [[brigade major]],<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29113|page=2984|date=28 March 1915}}</ref> the [[Second Battle of Ypres]] in April 1915 and the [[Battle of Loos]] in September 1915.<ref name=iwm/> He later saw action at the [[Battle of the Somme]] in 1916, the [[Battle of Arras (1917)|Battle of Arras]] in April 1917 and the [[Battle of Cambrai (1917)|Battle of Cambrai]] in November 1917.<ref name=iwm/>
De Burgh also fought in the [[Third Anglo-Afghan War]] in 1919.<ref name=iwm/> He was appointed an instructor at [[Pakistan Command and Staff College|Staff College, Quetta]] in 1928.<ref name="dk">[https://generals.dk/general/de_Burgh/Eric/Great_Britain.html de Burgh, Sir Eric, General (1881–1973) (Indian Army)], [http://www.generals.dk/ Generals.dk].</ref> He went on to be a Brigadier on the General Staff at Eastern Command in India in 1930, commanding officer of the [[1st (Risalpur) Cavalry Brigade]] in 1931 and District Officer Commanding [[Lahore]] District in 1934.<ref name=dk/> After that he attended the [[Royal College of Defence Studies|Imperial Defence College]].{{sfn|Smart|2005|p=79}} He then became Deputy Chief General Staff at Army Headquarters India in 1935, District Officer Commanding [[Rawalpindi]] District in 1936 and [[General Officer Commanding]] 1st Indian Division in 1937.<ref name=dk/> His last appointment was as [[Chief of the General Staff (India)|Chief of the General Staff in India]] in 1939 at the start of the [[Second World War]] before retiring in 1941.<ref name=dk/>
In retirement, De Burgh lived at Ard Cairn outside [[Naas]] and, in 1960, he acquired [[Bargy Castle]] in [[County Wexford]].<ref name="tb">[http://www.turtlebunbury.com/history/history_family/hist_family_deburgh.htm#general General Sir Eric de Burgh — Old Friend], [http://www.turtlebunbury.com/ Turtle Bunbury].</ref>
==Family== In 1923, De Burgh married Mary Fanshawe, daughter of General [[Edward Fanshawe (British Army officer)|Sir Edward Fanshawe]]; they had two daughters.<ref name=tb/> He was the maternal grandfather of singer [[Chris de Burgh]].<ref name=tb/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== *{{cite book| first=Nick| last=Smart| title=Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War| isbn=1844150496| year=2005| location=Barnesley| publisher=Pen & Sword}}
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{s-bef|before=[[Ivo Vesey|Sir Ivo Vesey]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Chief of the General Staff (India)]]|years=1939–1941}} {{s-aft|after=[[Thomas Jacomb Hutton|Sir Thomas Hutton]]}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burgh, Eric de}} [[Category:1881 births]] [[Category:1973 deaths]] [[Category:Academics of the Staff College, Quetta]] [[Category:Military personnel from County Kildare]] [[Category:Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley]] [[Category:Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies]] [[Category:People educated at Marlborough College]] [[Category:British Army personnel of the Second Boer War]] [[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War I]] [[Category:British military personnel of the Third Anglo-Afghan War]] [[Category:Indian Army generals of World War II]] [[Category:Irish expatriates in India]] [[Category:Irish knights]] [[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]] [[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]] [[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]] [[Category:People from Naas]] [[Category:Royal Dublin Fusiliers officers]] [[Category:Royal Irish Fusiliers officers]] [[Category:Manchester Regiment officers]]