{{Short description|British Army general (1913–1976)}} {{EngvarB|date=November 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}} {{Infobox military person |honorific_prefix = General |name= Sir Mervyn Butler |honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCB|CBE|DSO*|MC}} |image= Sir Mervyn Andrew Haldane Butler 1976.jpg |image_size= |alt= |caption= General Sir Mervyn Butler in 1967 |nickname= |birth_date= {{birth date|1913|07|01|df=yes}} |birth_place= |death_date= {{death date and age|1976|01|03|1913|07|01|df=yes}} |death_place= |burial_place= Aldershot Military Cemetery |allegiance= United Kingdom |branch= British Army |service_years= 1933–1976 |rank= General |service_number= 58182 |unit= South Lancashire Regiment<br/>Parachute Regiment<br/>Suffolk Regiment |commands= Army Strategic Command<br/>I (British) Corps<br/>Staff College, Camberley<br/>2nd Division<br/>16th Independent Parachute Brigade |battles= Second World War<br/>Cyprus Emergency<br/>Suez Crisis |awards= Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath<br/>Commander of the Order of the British Empire<br/>Distinguished Service Order & Bar<br/>Military Cross<br/>Mentioned in Despatches |relations= |other_work= }} General '''Sir Mervyn Andrew Haldane Butler''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|KCB|CBE|DSO1|MC}} (1 July 1913 – 3 January 1976) was a British Army officer who served as Commander-in-Chief Strategic Command.
==Military career== Mervyn Butler was educated at St Columba's College, Rathfarnham, Ireland and at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.<ref name=who>Who Was Who Volume V11 1971–1980 (1981)</ref> He was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the South Lancashire Regiment on 4 February 1933<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33908|page=743|date=3 February 1933}}</ref><ref name=who/> and was promoted to lieutenant on 2 February 1936.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34253|page=820|date=7 February 1936}}</ref> He was again promoted, this time to captain, on 2 February 1941.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=35063|page=676|date=31 January 1941|supp=y}}</ref> He transferred to the Parachute Regiment and served with distinction during the Second World War, being awarded both the Distinguished Service Order and the Military Cross for his services.<ref name=Whit>Whitaker's Almanacks</ref> He transferred to the Suffolk Regiment on 20 July 1946.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37657|page=3726|date=16 July 1946|supp=y}}</ref><ref name=who/>
Butler commanded the 16th Independent Parachute Brigade from 1955 to 1957.<ref name=who/> During the Suez Crisis, elements of the 16th Independent Parachute Brigade led by Butler and a contingent of the Royal Tank Regiment set off south along the canal bank on 6 November 1956 to capture Ismailia. Just before midnight, Butler was ordered to stop on the hour, when a ceasefire would come into effect. This raised a difficulty. There were Egyptian forces ahead; the British column was in open desert with no defensible feature to hand. Butler compromised, advancing until 0:15 am on 7 November 1956 to reach El Cap, where he sited the 2nd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, with supporting detachments.<ref>''The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Army'' (1994) General Editor David Chandler p. 349</ref> He was awarded a Bar to his Distinguished Service Order on 13 June 1957.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=41092|page=3419|supp=y|date=4 June 1957}}</ref>
Butler was General Officer Commanding 2nd Division from 1962 to 1964.<ref name=commands>[http://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/Army%20Commands%201900-2011.pdf Army Commands] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705211343/http://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/Army%20Commands%201900-2011.pdf |date=5 July 2015 }}</ref>
[[File:Mervyn Butler headstone.JPG|thumb|150px|left|Butler's grave in Aldershot Military Cemetery]] In 1964, Butler was appointed Assistant Chief of Defence Studies (Joint Warfare) and then in 1966 went on to be Commandant of the Staff College, Camberley.<ref name=Whit/> From 1968 to 1970, he was General Officer Commanding 1 (British) Corps. He was General Officer Commanding Army Strategic Command from 1970 to 1971 before going on to serve as Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies from January 1972 to 1973.<ref name=Whit/> He was promoted to general on 14 January 1972.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=45604|supp=y |date=22 February 1972 |page=2198 }}</ref> He was also Colonel Commandant of the Parachute Regiment from 1967 to 1972.<ref>The Red Devils GG Norton (Leo Cooper Famous Regiment Series)</ref>
Butler was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for service in Cyprus in 1957,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=41131|page=4361|supp=y|date=19 July 1957}}</ref> a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1964 New Year Honours,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=43200|page=3|supp=y|date=31 December 1963}}</ref> and advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1968 New Year Honours.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=44484|page=3|supp=y|date=29 December 1967}}</ref>
On his death in 1976 Butler was buried in Aldershot Military Cemetery.
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{s-bef|before=Alexander Williams}} {{s-ttl|title=GOC 2nd Division|years=1962–1964}} {{s-aft|after=Norman Wheeler}} |- {{s-bef|before=John Worsley}} {{s-ttl|title=Commandant of the Staff College, Camberley|years=1966–1967}} {{s-aft|after=John Sharp}} |- {{s-bef|before=Sir John Mogg|rows=2}} {{s-ttl|title=GOC 1st (British) Corps|years=1968–1970}} {{s-aft|after=Sir John Sharp}} |- {{s-ttl|title=GOC, Army Strategic Command|years=1970–1971}} {{s-aft|after=Sir Frank King}} |- {{s-bef|before=Alastair Buchan}} {{s-ttl|title=Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies|years=1972–1973}} {{s-aft|after=Sir Antony Read}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Mervyn}} Category:1913 births Category:1976 deaths Category:British Army generals Category:British Parachute Regiment officers Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Category:Recipients of the Military Cross Category:British Army personnel of World War II Category:British military personnel of the Cyprus Emergency Category:Burials at Aldershot Military Cemetery Category:South Lancashire Regiment officers Category:Commandants of the Staff College, Camberley Category:Suffolk Regiment officers Category:People educated at St Columba's College, Dublin