Turner, Arthur James Dillon

Date of birth:: September 19th, 1907 (Abbottabad/North West Frontier Province, India)
Date of death:: October 8th, 1959 (Accra, Ghana)
Service number:: 39500
Nationality:: British

Biography

Career:
- Sandhurst RMA
- 2nd February 1928: Commissiones 2nd Lieutenant Suffolk Regiment
- Service with 1st Battalion
- 2nd February 1931: Lieutenant
- 10 August 1932 -2nd February 1935: Seconded to the Royal West African Frontier Force in Sierra Leone
- 16 februari: Madras, India
- 21 january 1938: Staff College Camberley
- 15 february 1939: Staff Captain Aldershot
- 2 september 1939: Deputy Assistant Adjudant General 1st Corps
- 3 september 1939: Acting Major
- 3 december 1939: Temporary Major
- 1940: BEF and retreat from Dunkirk
- 14th July 1940- 2nd September 1940,appointed Deputy Adjutant Quarter Master General for 1st Corps at Doncaster
- 14th September 1940: Acting Lieutenant Colonel & Assistant Adjutant and Quarter Master General to British troops in Nigeria(Lagos)
- 14 December 1940: War Substantive Major and temporary Lieutenant Colonel
- 9 June 1940: Posted home as Assistant Quarter Master General of Plans to South Eastern Command at Reigate
- 11th March 1943 to 22nd June 1944: General Staff Officer 1st Grade (Training at Combined Operations Headquarters in Inverary, and also with Operations at the Headquarters of the 2nd Army in London.)
- Appointed Battalion Commander of the 6th Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s West Riding Regiment, (Normandy Invasion)
- July 1944: Battalion retreated and relieved of his command for asking his Battalion could retreat and rest.
- 19th July 1944 appointed to the command of the 1st Battalion, Hampshire Regiment and returned to Normandy and saw action until the advance in The Netherlands early 1945
- 2nd February 1945 Promoted to Major and Temporary Lieutenant Colonel
- 4th February 1945- 31st May 1945 appointed General Staff Officer 1st Grade for Training with Combined Operations Headquarters out in Delhi, India
1st June 1945: Acting Colonel
- Colonel on the General Staff of Combined Operations from 1st June to 30th June 1945
- 1st July 1945: Colonel "Q" at the Headquarters of the 14th Army in Burma
- 1st December 1945: War Substantive Lieutenant Colonel and temporary Colonel
- 10th December 1945 Acting Brigadier
- Officer in Command of Administration with Headquarters of Malaya Command until 20th January 1946
- 2nd April to 31st December 1946 posted to the British Army at the Rhine as Assistant Commandant and Chief Instructor of Training
-1st January 1947 to 24th September 1948 Deputy Adjutant General
of the 2nd Echelon

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Military Cross (MC)

Period:: Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:: Temporary Major
Unit:: Headquarters, I Corps, British Army
Awarded on:: August 27th, 1940
Awarded for:: Operation Dynamo

Citation:
"For valuable services during the evacuation of the Dunkirk beaches. This officer showed a fine disregard of his personal safety throughout the evacuation. Always extremely fit, he did an immense amount of hard and dangerous work, showing a fine readiness to face any sort of unpleasant and difficult task without question. He proved himself utterly reliable and steady in most trying circumstances - his coolness being remarkable, and a grand example to the men.'

Distinguished Service Order (DSO)

Period:: Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:: Major
Unit:: 1st Hampshire Regiment, 23th Infantry Brigade, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, British Army
Awarded on:: March 1st, 1945

Recommendation:
"At Bemmel on 4th October 1944 Lieutenant Colonel Turner was in command of 1st Hampshire’s who were taking part in an attack. Just as the attack started violent and very concentrated artillery fire was brought to bear by the enemy on Lieutenant Colonel Turner’s command post, knocking him down and killing and wounding most of the Officer’s and men in the command post. It also destroyed all his communications. He soon realised that the Command Post was under direct observation, and any movement brought more fire. Lieutenant Colonel Turner showed outstanding courage by successfully organising evacuation of the command post under very heavy fire. Knowing that he was temporarily out of touch by signal with his company’s he immediately went forward on foot to the forward Companies and personally directed the attack. By his outstanding courage and leadership all the Battalion objectives were gained despite intense artillery and mortar fire, and very stubborn resistance by the enemy."