Michael O'Moore Creagh
Encyclopedia
Major-General Sir Michael O'Moore Creagh KBE
MC
, (16 May 1892–1970) was a British soldier who served in both the First and Second World Wars. He commanded the 7th Armoured Division
, the Desert Rats, between 1939 and 1941.
. He entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and was then commissioned into 7th Queen's Own Hussars
in 1911.
Creagh stayed in the British Army
after the war and commanded 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars
from 1934 to 1938.
who was retired by General Archibald Wavell. In February 1940 the unit was renamed 7th Armoured Division and Creagh's tenure of command of this division was the longest of any of its commanding officers.
the Italians invaded Egypt
and advanced 60 miles to Sidi Barrani
where they halted. It was here that Creagh's 7th Armoured Division fought its first major battle in the Operation Compass
counterattack
on 8 December, joining with 4th Indian Division in the Western Desert Force
(WDF) to mount the attack. As a result the Italians were driven back quickly into Cyrenaica
, the eastern province of their colonial territory, Libya
.
fell to advancing British, Australian and Indian forces in the WDF under the command of General Sir Richard O'Connor
, followed as the new year of 1941 came in, by Tobruk
as the Italians retreated along the Via Balbia
, the metallised coastal road that led back to Benghazi
and Tripoli
. This was the top half of a semicircle, the bottom straight line of the semicircle was formed by rough rock-strewn desert, unpromising territory for armoured and mechanised military units like 7th Armoured Division.
, Msus and Antelat (the bottom of the semicircle), while the Australian 6th Division chased the retreating Italian Tenth Army
along the coast road round the Jebel Akhdar mountains to the north (the curve of the semicircle). The poor terrain was hard going for the tanks, and Creagh took the bold decision to send a flying column
- christened "Combe Force
" - south-west across the virtually unmapped Libyan Desert. Combe Force, under its namesake Lieutenant Colonel John Combe
of the 11th Hussars, consisted of 11th Hussars
, a squadron of King's Dragoon Guards, 2nd Battalion The Rifle Brigade, an RAF armoured car squadron, anti-tank guns from 3 Royal Horse Artillery and 'C' battery 4 RHA. The force totalled about 2,000 men. On 5 February, Combe Force succeeded in cutting off the Italians at Sidi Saleh and Beda Fomm
. The small force held the Italians long enough to be joined by the armour of 4 Brigade on 6 February. The bulk of the Tenth Army surrendered the next day as a result of this successful blockade of their path.
On 3 September 1941, Creagh was replaced as commander of the division by Major General William Gott
following the costly failure of Operation Battleaxe
. Creagh commanded the 3rd Armoured Group from 1941 and Hampshire and Dorset District from 1942 before retiring in 1944.
In retirement he worked for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
MC
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
, (16 May 1892–1970) was a British soldier who served in both the First and Second World Wars. He commanded the 7th Armoured Division
British 7th Armoured Division
The 7th Armoured Division was a British armoured division which saw service during the Second World War where its exploits made it famous as the Desert Rats....
, the Desert Rats, between 1939 and 1941.
Early life
Creagh was born on 16 May 1892 and educated at Wellington CollegeWellington College, Berkshire
-Former pupils:Notable former pupils include historian P. J. Marshall, architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, impressionist Rory Bremner, Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge, author Sebastian Faulks, language school pioneer John Haycraft, political journalist Robin Oakley, actor Sir Christopher...
. He entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and was then commissioned into 7th Queen's Own Hussars
Queen's Own Hussars
The Queen's Own Hussars, normally referred to by the abbreviation QOH, was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, formed from the amalgamation of 3rd The King's Own Hussars and the 7th Queen's Own Hussars at Candahar Barracks, Tidworth in 1958....
in 1911.
First World War
By the end of the First World War, Creagh had served as an aide de camp to the divisional commander Home Forces (1914–15), as a staff captain in France (1917–18) and a brigade major (1918–19).Creagh stayed in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
after the war and commanded 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars
15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars
The 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was created as part of the reduction in the cavalry in the aftermath of World War I. It was formed by the amalgamation of the 15th The King's Hussars and the 19th Royal Hussars on 11 April 1922, becoming the...
from 1934 to 1938.
Second World War
On 4 December 1939, Creagh took over the 7th Armoured Division stationed on the Egyptian frontier, from Major-General Sir Percy HobartPercy Hobart
Major-General Sir Percy Cleghorn Stanley Hobart KBE CB DSO MC , also known as "Hobo", was a British military engineer, noted for his command of the 79th Armoured Division during World War II...
who was retired by General Archibald Wavell. In February 1940 the unit was renamed 7th Armoured Division and Creagh's tenure of command of this division was the longest of any of its commanding officers.
Sidi Barrani
Creagh led the division through its earliest triumphs against the Italians after they entered the war on 10 June 1940. Under Marshal Rodolfo GrazianiRodolfo Graziani
Rodolfo Graziani, 1st Marquis of Neghelli , was an officer in the Italian Regio Esercito who led military expeditions in Africa before and during World War II.-Rise to prominence:...
the Italians invaded Egypt
Italian invasion of Egypt
The Italian Invasion of Egypt was an Italian offensive action against British, Commonwealth and Free French forces during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. Initially, the goal of the offensive was to seize the Suez Canal. To accomplish this, Italian forces from Libya would have...
and advanced 60 miles to Sidi Barrani
Sidi Barrani
Sidi Barrani is a town in Egypt, near the Mediterranean Sea, about east of the border with Libya, and around from Tobruk, Libya.Probably named after Sidi Mohammed el Barrani, a Senussi fighter in the early 1900s, the village is mainly a Bedouin community...
where they halted. It was here that Creagh's 7th Armoured Division fought its first major battle in the Operation Compass
Operation Compass
Operation Compass was the first major Allied military operation of the Western Desert Campaign during World War II. British and Commonwealth forces attacked Italian forces in western Egypt and eastern Libya in December 1940 to February 1941. The attack was a complete success...
counterattack
Counterattack
A counterattack is a tactic used in response against an attack. The term originates in military strategy. The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy in attack and the specific objectives are usually to regain lost ground or to destroy attacking enemy units.It is...
on 8 December, joining with 4th Indian Division in the Western Desert Force
Western Desert Force
The Western Desert Force, during World War II, was a British Commonwealth army formation stationed in Egypt.On 17 June 1940, the headquarters of the British 6th Infantry Division was designated as the Western Desert Force. The unit consisted of the 7th Armoured Division and the Indian 4th Infantry...
(WDF) to mount the attack. As a result the Italians were driven back quickly into Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya.Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it was part of the Creta et Cyrenaica province during the Roman period, later divided in Libia Pentapolis and Libia Sicca...
, the eastern province of their colonial territory, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
.
Bardia and Tobruk
The small port of BardiaBardia
Bardia is a geographic region in the Democratic Republic of Nepal.Bardia comprises a portion of the Terai, or lowland hills and valleys of southern Nepal. The Terai is over 1,000 feet in elevation, and extends all along the Indian border...
fell to advancing British, Australian and Indian forces in the WDF under the command of General Sir Richard O'Connor
Richard O'Connor
General Sir Richard Nugent O'Connor KT, GCB, DSO & Bar, MC, ADC was a British Army general who commanded the Western Desert Force in the early years of World War II...
, followed as the new year of 1941 came in, by Tobruk
Tobruk
Tobruk or Tubruq is a city, seaport, and peninsula on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District and has a population of 120,000 ....
as the Italians retreated along the Via Balbia
Via Balbia
The Libyan Coastal Highway is a highway that is the only major road that runs along the entire east-west length of the Libyan Mediterranean coastline...
, the metallised coastal road that led back to Benghazi
Benghazi
Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...
and Tripoli
Tripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
. This was the top half of a semicircle, the bottom straight line of the semicircle was formed by rough rock-strewn desert, unpromising territory for armoured and mechanised military units like 7th Armoured Division.
Beda Fomm
Creagh's division was to travel via MechiliMechili
Mechili is a small village in Cyrenaica, Libya and the former site of a turkish fort. It’s nearly east of Benghazi, and west of Timimi.-Geography:Because of its location in the desert, Mechili suffered in the past from isolation...
, Msus and Antelat (the bottom of the semicircle), while the Australian 6th Division chased the retreating Italian Tenth Army
Italian Tenth Army
The Italian Tenth Army was one of two Italian armies in Italian North Africa during World War II. The Tenth Army in Cyrenaica faced the British in the neutral Kingdom of Egypt...
along the coast road round the Jebel Akhdar mountains to the north (the curve of the semicircle). The poor terrain was hard going for the tanks, and Creagh took the bold decision to send a flying column
Flying column
A flying column is a small, independent, military land unit capable of rapid mobility and usually composed of all arms. It is often an ad hoc unit, formed during the course of operations....
- christened "Combe Force
Combe Force
Combe Force, or Combeforce, was an ad hoc flying column formed by the British Army for a specific purpose during the latter stages of Operation Compass. Combe Force was formed to cut across the open desert of Cyrenaica and cut off the retreating Italian Army which was traveling along the coastal...
" - south-west across the virtually unmapped Libyan Desert. Combe Force, under its namesake Lieutenant Colonel John Combe
John Frederick Boyce Combe
Major-General John Frederick Boyce Combe CB DSO & Bar was a British Army officer before and during World War II. He was twice awarded the DSO for his service in the Western Desert Campaign before being captured in April 1941 and spending nearly two and a half years as a prisoner of war in Italy...
of the 11th Hussars, consisted of 11th Hussars
11th Hussars
The 11th Hussars was a cavalry regiment of the British Army.-History:The regiment was founded in 1715 as Colonel Philip Honeywood's Regiment of Dragoons and was known by the name of its Colonel until 1751 when it became the 11th Regiment of Dragoons...
, a squadron of King's Dragoon Guards, 2nd Battalion The Rifle Brigade, an RAF armoured car squadron, anti-tank guns from 3 Royal Horse Artillery and 'C' battery 4 RHA. The force totalled about 2,000 men. On 5 February, Combe Force succeeded in cutting off the Italians at Sidi Saleh and Beda Fomm
Beda Fomm
Beda Fomm is a small coastal town in southwestern Cyrenaica, Libya located between the much larger port city Benghazi to its north and the larger town of El Agheila further to the southwest...
. The small force held the Italians long enough to be joined by the armour of 4 Brigade on 6 February. The bulk of the Tenth Army surrendered the next day as a result of this successful blockade of their path.
On 3 September 1941, Creagh was replaced as commander of the division by Major General William Gott
William Gott
Lieutenant-General William Henry Ewart Gott CB, CBE, DSO and bar, MC , nicknamed "Strafer", was a British Army officer during both the First and Second World Wars, reaching the rank of lieutenant-general when serving in the British Eighth Army.-Military career:Educated at Harrow School he was...
following the costly failure of Operation Battleaxe
Operation Battleaxe
Operation Battleaxe was a British Army operation during the Second World War in June 1941 with the goal of clearing eastern Cyrenaica of German and Italian forces; one of the main benefits of this would have been the lifting of the Siege of Tobruk....
. Creagh commanded the 3rd Armoured Group from 1941 and Hampshire and Dorset District from 1942 before retiring in 1944.
In retirement he worked for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.