Background
West was the son of Captain Harry Charles John Alston-Roberts-West, Registered Nurse, and Olive Molyneux-Montgomerie.
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Michael West
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Career
He served in the Second World War and the Korean War. West was a witty and unconventional soldier, with a taste for partying and jazz. Michael West was commissioned into the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in 1925.
He went to India in 1935.
He served in the Second World War, initially as a Brigade Major for 163rd Brigade. He was then appointed Commanding Officer of 2nd Battalion South Lancashire Regiment and was deployed to Madagascar in 1942.
He became Deputy Commander of 72nd Indian Infantry Brigade in 1943 and Commander of 5th Infantry Brigade in Burma in 1944. After the war he joined the School of Infantry in 1946 moving on to be Deputy Director of Manpower Planning at the War Office in 1949.
He was appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief British Troops in Austria in 1950.
West was Commander of the 1st Commonwealth Division in of Korea from 1952 to 1953 and has been described as "the architect of British strategy in the Korean War". He was Director of the Territorial Army from 1955 and then Commander, 1st British Corps, part of the British Army of the Rhine, from 1958. He became General Officer Commanding-in-Chief for Northern Command in 1960 and Head of the British Defence Staff in Washington, District of Columbia and United Kingdom Representative on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Standing Group in 1962.
West was often routinely provocative and, as a relatively junior officer, he regularly challenged Eisenhower"s planning and was "invariably" found to be right.
Despite his successes and influence, West was thought to be too unpredictable for the highest levels of command and he retired in September 1965. He was a keen dancer and artist, and used to drive a London taxi.
There is a memorial to him in the Church at Whitchurch in Warwickshire. The couple had one daughter, Carinthia (who was courted by Mick jagger).
Achievements
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Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath 13 June 1964 (Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath 1 January 1959, Central Bank 7 June 1951) Distinguished Service Order 24 May 1945, 28 June 1945, 8 December 1953 Mentioned in Despatches 8 December 1953 Commander, Legion of Merit (United States) 10 August 1954.
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Born
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Died
March 14, 1978 (aged 72)
Awards
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Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath; commander of the Legion of Merit; Legion of Merit Distinguished Service Order; Legion of Merit; Grand Cross
The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements.The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements.