General Sir Miles Christopher Dempsey, GBE, KCB, DSO, MC, DL (15 December 1896 – 5 June 1969) was a senior British Army officer who served in both world wars.

[6] Maximilian O'Dempsey, 3rd Viscount Clanmalier, was loyal to the Catholic King James II and, as a result, was attainted, and the family lost all their lands in 1691.

The Great War broke out in August of that year, and in October he left Shrewsbury to enter the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, at the age of 17.

[11] Dempsey, serving as a platoon commander in D Company, first saw action during the Battle of Delville Wood in late July 1916, part of the larger Somme offensive.

As at Delville Wood earlier in the year, the assault was successful but with heavy losses, although Dempsey again remained unscathed, and soon returned to England for home leave.

Dempsey was posted as a staff officer at II Corps headquarters (HQ), before returning to the 1st Royal Berkshires, this time in command of A Company.

Dempsey took over B Company, and spent a large amount of his time travelling, mainly by bicycle, around Europe, visiting battlefields of old wars, as well as likely scenes of battle in any future conflicts.

The Senior Division attending from 1929 to 1930 included Neil Ritchie, Herbert Lumsden, George Erskine, Ivor Hughes, Reginald Denning, Harold Redman and Ian Playfair, while in Dempsey's second year, the Junior Division, attending from 1931 to 1932, included Brian Horrocks, Sidney Kirkman, Frank Simpson, Joseph Baillon, Arthur Dowler, Thomas Rees, Keith Arbuthnott and Cameron Nicholson.

The syndicate noted the influence that poor communications had on the outcome of the battle, and speculated as to how armoured fighting vehicles might have been employed had they existed at the time.

Relinquishing that post in late January 1938, he returned to England soon after to succeed Miles as commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, Royal Berkshires,[37] and received a promotion to lieutenant colonel on 11 February 1938.

"[46] He held this position until 15 June 1941, when he was promoted to the acting rank of major-general, and given command of the 46th Infantry Division,[47] at the instigation of General Sir Alan Brooke, then the Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces, who had recognised Dempsey's ability in Belgium and France and thought highly of him.

Dempsey suggested an amphibious operation but this was rejected by Montgomery in favour of switching the main axis of the Eighth Army's advance inland to the west of Mount Etna.

[67]On 13 August, towards the end of the campaign, the XIII Corps HQ was withdrawn to reserve to plan Operation Baytown, the Eighth Army's part in the Allied invasion of Italy across the Strait of Messina.

[71] Although the XIII Corps landing was unopposed, and subsequent opposition was light, the Germans ensured his progress was slow by destroying bridges and culverts on the only routes through the harsh terrain.

There was no chance that the Canadian government would accept a British officer, and the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, would not countenance it.

[77] With his chief of staff, Brigadier Maurice Chilton, who had been part of his syndicate at Camberley,[78] and his naval and air counterparts, Rear Admiral Sir Philip Vian and Broadhurst, Dempsey drew up the detailed plans for the assault on the British and Canadian beaches in Normandy.

Chilton later became Deputy Adjutant General at 21st Army Group HQ,[78] and he was replaced as chief of staff by Brigadier Harold "Pete" Pyman on 23 January 1945.

This fighting drew vital German units including the bulk of their armoured strength to the Caen sector, which facilitated Operation Cobra, the breakout further west by Lieutenant General Omar Bradley's U.S. First Army.

[82] Dempsey convinced Montgomery to allow him to make an attempt at a breakthrough using three armoured divisions, assisted by heavy bombers dropping 7,000 long tons (7,100 t) of bombs.

[93] Dempsey suggested an alternative plan of crossing the Maas near Venlo and the Rhine at Wesel, 40 miles (64 km) closer to Bradley's American armies.

Airborne troops secured a succession of canal and river crossings to enable XXX Corps to reach the Nederrijn at Arnhem and advance into Germany.

[95] Intelligence had not detected the presence of unexpected German formations in the area and resistance proved greater than expected, frustrating XXX Corps' attempts to reach its final objective.

During the operation, Dempsey, forward near the front with his Tac HQ, witnessed the assault crossing of the Waal by the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division's 504th Parachute Regiment.

"[100] When it became clear that the operation no longer had any chance of success, Dempsey and Horrocks agreed to terminate it and withdraw the 1st Airborne Division from the north bank of the Nederrijn.

[101] On 15 October, during a visit to the Second Army, King George VI invested Dempsey in the field with his award of the Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath,[102] which had been gazetted on 27 June.

[104]On 7 April, The Illustrated London News carried a full front page of a specially commissioned portrait painting of Dempsey by artist Arthur Pan.

[106] For his services in north west Europe, Dempsey was mentioned in despatches twice more,[107][108] and he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in July.

[113] After the end of World War II in Europe, Dempsey had been nominated to become the commander in chief of British Troops in Austria, but this was abruptly cancelled.

[146] He oversaw the July 1947 publication of An Account of the Operations of Second Army in Europe 1944–1945, for which he wrote the foreword and Pyman edited,[140] but only 48 copies were printed; one sold at auction for £8,750 in 2012.

The two men shared many qualities, including a disdain for paperwork and a determination, based on their First World War experiences, never to waste their soldiers' lives.