{{Short description|British Army general}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}} {{Infobox military person | honorific_prefix = Lieutenant-General | name = Sir Kenneth Loch | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCIE|KBE|CB|MC}} | image = Sir Kenneth Morley Loch.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Loch in 1941 | nickname = | birth_date = {{birth date|1890|09|18|df=yes}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{death date and age|1961|01|09|1890|09|18|df=yes}} | death_place = | burial_place = | allegiance = United Kingdom | branch = British Army | service_years = 1910–1947 | rank = Lieutenant-General | service_number = 22281 | unit = Royal Artillery | commands = | battles = First World War<br/>Second World War | awards = Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire<br/>Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire<br/>Companion of the Order of the Bath<br/>Military Cross<br/>Mentioned in Despatches (2) | relations = | other_work = }} Lieutenant-General '''Sir Kenneth Morley Loch''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100|sep=,|KCIE|KBE|CB|MC}} (18 September 1890 – 9 January 1961) was a senior British Army officer and defence planner.

==Early life and military career== Born on 18 September 1890, Loch was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire, and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and, upon passing out from the latter, received a commission as a second lieutenant into the Royal Artillery on 23 December 1910.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28454|page=128|date=6 January 1911}}</ref>{{sfn|Smart|2005|p=192}}<ref name=lh>{{cite web|url=http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/LOCH2.shtml|title=Loch, Kenneth|publisher=Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070731012038/http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/LOCH2.shtml|archive-date=31 July 2007}}</ref> He saw action during the First World War at the retreat from Mons and the battles of the Marne and Aisne, all in 1914.<ref name=lh/> Leaving the front lines in 1916 he became an instructor in gunnery at the School of Instruction for the Royal Horse Artillery and the Royal Field Artillery until he returned to front line service in the Italian Campaign of 1918.<ref name=lh/> During the war Loch was twice mentioned in despatches and received the Military Cross.<ref name=who/>{{sfn|Smart|2005|p=192}}

==Between the wars== Between the wars Loch remained in the army and attended the Staff College, Camberley, from 1923 to 1924.{{sfn|Smart|2005|p=192}} His fellow students included numerous future general officers, such as Dudley Johnson, John Smyth, Arthur Wakely, Montagu Stopford, Arthur Percival, Douglas Henry Pratt, Robert Stone, John Halsted, Frederick Pile, Michael Gambier-Parry, Colville Wemyss, Robert Pargiter, Edmond Schreiber, Alastair MacDougall, Roderic Petre, Balfour Hutchison, Leslie Hill and Gordon Macready.{{sfn|Smart|2005|p=192}} He was involved in air defence preparations for Britain around the British Empire.<ref name=lh/> From 1926 to 1929 he was a General Staff Officer Grade 2 (GSO2) to the Territorial Army Air Defence Formations, and from 1932 to 1935 an instructor at the Staff College, Quetta; GSO2 at the War Office, 1935–1937, and GSO1, Royal Air Force (RAF) Fighter Command, 1937–1938.<ref name=who>'LOCH, Lt-Gen. Sir Kenneth Morley', in ''Who Was Who'' (A. & C. Black, 1920–2008; [http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U49299 online edition] by Oxford University Press, 2007, accessed 11 December 2011</ref>{{sfn|Smart|2005|p=192}}

==Second World War== From the beginning of the Second World War until 1941, Loch was Director of Anti-Aircraft and Coastal Defence,<ref name=lh/><ref name=who/> first as acting major-general, then from 25 November 1940 as temporary major-general.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=35000|page=6745|supp=y|date=22 November 1940}}</ref> He argued successfully against the use of chemical weapons in case of a German invasion of Britain (see Operation Sea Lion).<ref>Edward M. Spiers, ''Chemical Warfare'' (University of Illinois Press, 1986), p. 67</ref> After a three-year tour of inspection of anti-aircraft defences in the British Empire (a Special Employment), he became Master-General of Ordnance, India, from 1944 until his retirement in 1947.<ref name=lh/> After retiring the service Loch was with the British Council from 1947 to 1948, then served as a member of the Control Commission for Germany, 1948–1949, and returned to the British Council from 1950 to 1958.<ref name=who/> He was also Chairman of Governors of Wellington College.{{sfn|Smart|2005|p=192}}

In 1929 Loch married Monica Joan Estelle Ruffer, the daughter of a German banker, and had two sons. He was also the uncle of the Labour Member of Parliament Tam Dalyell.<ref name=Galbraith>Russell Galbraith (2000). ''Inside Outside: A Biography of Tam Dalyell: The Man They Can't Gag''. Edinburgh: Mainstream, 15.</ref>

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

==Sources== *{{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}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Sir Kenneth Morley Loch}} *[https://generals.dk/general/Loch/Kenneth_Morley/Great_Britain.html Generals of World War II]

{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{s-bef|before=Clarence Bird}} {{s-ttl|title=Master-General of the Ordnance (India)|years=1944−1947}} {{s-aft|after=Post disbanded}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loch, Kenneth}} Category:Scottish generals Category:British Army generals of World War II Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:1890 births Category:1961 deaths Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath Category:Recipients of the Military Cross Category:Royal Artillery officers Category:People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Category:Chemical warfare Category:Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Category:Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Category:British Army lieutenant generals