Background
De Guingand was born in Acton (West London), the second of three brothers, and a younger sister. His parents moved to London from Yorkshire.
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1947
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1953
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1979
De Guingand was born in Acton (West London), the second of three brothers, and a younger sister. His parents moved to London from Yorkshire.
De Guingand was educated at Ampleforth College and graduated from the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, in 1918.
He joined the West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) in December 1919, and was promoted to lieutenant on 17 December 1921. Two years later his brigade major was Capt Bernard Montgomery, and despite marked difference in temperament and life styles they struck up a long friendship. (Michael Carver in DNB.) Bored with regimental duty in England and needing more income to support his expensive gambling and hunting tastes, '‘Freddie” volunteered in 1926 for duty with the King’s African Rifles in Nyasaland (now Malawi). After five happy years fighting the Mad Mullah he became adjutant of his regiment’s 1st Bn in Egypt. Here he again had contact with Montgomery. In June 39 De Guingand became military assistant to Hore- Beeisha, secretary of state for war, and got valuable insights into high level military and political affairs. When Hore-Belisha was dismissed in January 1941, De Guingand left at his own request and was posted as an instructor, with the grade of lieutenant colonel, to the newly formed Middle East Staff College at Haifa. At the end of 1941 he was reassigned to the joint planning staff in Cairo. After Auchinleck succeeded Wavell as head of the Middle East Command, Col de Guingand became director of military intelligence in February 1942. When Auchinleck took over the hard pressed 8th Army from Neil Ritchie, the Auk made the colonel his BGS. On the road to El Alamein from Cairo de Guingand had a fortuitous meeting on 13 August 1942 with Montgomery. The messiah had been given command of the battered 8th Army and was hastening forward to save it. After getting a lucid and candid appraisal of the dismal situation from de Guingand. Monty promptly named him his CofS with full staff authority for logistical as well as operational matters.
Although Montgomery de Guingand were complete opposites in temperament, they worked harmoniously in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and northern Europe. Col de Guingand was appointed to the DSO in 1942 and knighted (KBE) in 1944. Their falling-out began in the last months of the war when Monty started claiming sole credit not only for his military triumphs but also for reconciling personal differences with Eisenhower in the winter of 1944-45 (DNB). Montgomery was guilty of petty slights: excluding his chief of staff from the surrender ceremony on Lueneburg Heath, from any part in the victory celebration, and finally in abandoning his pledge to keep de Guingand as his deputy when Montgomery became C1GS in June 1946. (DNB)
Sir Francis was promoted to major general when he retired from the army in 1946 to become a successful businessman and pursue his interests as a sportsman, gambler, and bon viveur (DNB).
He died 29 June 1979 in Cannes.
