General Sir Neil Methuen Ritchie, GBE, KCB, DSO, MC, KStJ (29 July 1897 – 11 December 1983) was a British Army officer who served in the First and Second World Wars.

During the Second World War he commanded the British Eighth Army in the North African campaign from November 1941 until he was dismissed in June 1942 after a disastrous defeat in the Battle of Gazala.

Between the wars he participated in the Occupation of the Rhineland, attended the Staff College, Camberley, and commanded a battalion in Palestine during the Arab revolt.

During the Second World War he served with the British Expeditionary Force in the Battle of France in 1940 as the Brigadier General Staff of II Corps, commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Alan Brooke.

He commanded Far East Land Forces from 1947 to 1949 and led the Joint Services Mission in Washington, DC, from 1949 until his retirement in 1951.

[2] His father's sugar cane business was ruined by a crop disease, and the family moved to British Malaya, where he established a rubber plantation.

[3] After the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, Ritchie passed out from Sandhurst on 16 December and was, at the age of 17, commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Black Watch (Royal Highlanders).

[10][11] He was made a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order on 25 August,[12] and promoted to the substantive rank of captain on 19 November.

His citation read:During the action against the Turkish Tabsor position on September 19th, 1918, and during the subsequent advance, he was invariably to the fore and set a fine example of coolness, courage and utter disregard of danger.

Ritchie carried a Lewis gun up part of the way as its carrier was exhausted, and thereby materially assisted in driving off an enemy picquet which was holding up the attack on top of the hill.

[17] Ritchie continued to serve as adjutant until 28 February 1921, when he returned to the regimental depot in Perth, Scotland, in command of a training company.

[11][18] On completion of the staff college course, Ritchie returned to his regiment, which was now serving at Meerut in British India.

[18] On 4 December 1937, Ritchie married Catherine Taylor of Kingston, Ontario, Canada, the daughter of James Arnott Minnes, a partner in a warehousing firm, in Chelsea, London.

[1][10] On 3 January 1938 Ritchie transferred from the Black Watch, which by now he had been with for just over twenty-three years, to the King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster), and was promoted to lieutenant colonel.

[33] At the relatively young age of forty-three, Ritchie received a promotion to the acting rank of major-general on 28 October 1940, with service number 9334,[37] and became General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division.

Although not a Scot, Ritchie was a good choice for the role, as he had spent much of his career with the Black Watch, which contributed three of the division's nine infantry battalions, and had experience training troops.

[41] Auchinleck succeeded Wavell as C-in-C Middle East, and gave Ritchie his highest field command, the British Eighth Army, in November, following the dismissal of Lieutenant-General Alan Cunningham during Operation Crusader.

Auchinleck was satisfied with his performance in Operation Crusader, and thought that it would affect morale to remove another commander, and a victorious one at that, so he retained Ritchie in the post.

In his book The Desert Generals, Corelli Barnett, a British military historian, wrote that: [Ritchie] was vigorous and thorough.

At one point Ritchie bypassed Godwin-Austen and countermanded the latter's orders to Major-General Francis Tuker, the commander of the 4th Indian Division.

Feeling that Ritchie had by this action displayed a lack of confidence in him, Godwin-Austen tendered his resignation to Auchinleck, which was reluctantly accepted.

Auchinleck kept him on a short leash, paying frequent visits, sending lengthy instructions and positioning his DCGS, Brigadier Eric Dorman-Smith at Eighth Army headquarters.

[51] Michael Carver, who later served under Ritchie in North-West Europe, and became a field marshal and a military historian, wrote: He was a good, professional, straightforward soldier.

Brooke later wrote:Neil Ritchie had done so wonderfully well in France during the fighting leading to Dunkirk, and I had grown so fond of him, that I hated seeing him subjected to this serious reverse.

The division was a first line Territorial Army formation made up of infantry battalions from all five Scottish Lowland regiments, and at the time was being trained in mountain warfare, in the United Kingdom in preparation for possible operations in Norway.

After Cassels was appointed commander of the 152nd Infantry Brigade on 27 June 1944,[62] Ritchie was not satisfied with his replacement, and asked Montgomery for Brigadier Gilbert Minto (Jim) Elliot, the Commander, Royal Artillery, of the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division, who had been a fellow student at the Staff College, Camberley.

[54] The following year, during Operation Plunder, the crossing of the Rhine, Ritchie demonstrated technical acumen, sound planning, and the coordination of the forces under his command.

"[63] Ritchie then drew a line on the headquarters map with a grease pencil and told Hakewill-Smith that he would be going home if his units were not on that position by the next day.

[65][66] He also received several foreign awards, including being made a Commander of the Legion of Merit by the United States,[67] a Knight Grand Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau with Swords by the Netherlands,[68] and a Commander of the Legion of Honour by France, which also awarded him the Croix de guerre.

The continuing support of Brooke was the key factor in his recovery, whilst Montgomery, for whom sacking by Auchinleck was no disqualification, allowed him to play to his strengths.