Lewis Pugh (British Army officer)

Major-General Lewis Henry Owain Pugh CB, CBE, DSO & Two Bars (18 May 1907 – 10 March 1981) was a British Army officer.

Lewis Pugh
Born18 May 1907
Glandyfi, Ceredigion, Wales
Died10 March 1981 (aged 76)
Wonastow, Monmouthshire, Wales
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Years of service1927−1961
RankMajor-General
Service number37091
UnitRoyal Artillery
Commands held26th Gurkha Infantry Brigade
53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division
Battles/warsSecond World War
Malayan Emergency
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Distinguished Service Order and Two Bars

Military career

Educated at Wellington College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Pugh was commissioned into the Royal Artillery on 29 January 1927.[1] He served with the Intelligence Branch of the Indian Police Service in the 1930s.[2]

During the Second World War, he served with the Special Operations Executive in India and, on 9 March 1943, he led Operation Creek which was a covert attack by members of the Calcutta Light Horse and the Calcutta Scottish against a Nazi German merchant ship, the Ehrenfels, which had been transmitting information to U-boats from Mormugao Harbour in neutral Portugal's territory of Goa.[3][4]

After the war he became commander of the 26th Gurkha Infantry Brigade in November 1949 during the Malayan Emergency, brigadier on the general staff at the Military Training Directorate in September 1952 and Deputy Director of Military Operations at the War Office in November 1953.[5] He went on to be Chief of Staff for Far East Land Forces in January 1956 and General Officer Commanding the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division in January 1958 before retiring in February 1961.[5]

Pugh was High Sheriff of Cardiganshire in 1964.[6] He was also colonel of the 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) from 1956 to 1969.[7]

Gregory Peck played Pugh in the 1980 war film The Sea Wolves, which was based on Operation Creek.[8]

References
  1. "No. 33244". The London Gazette. 1 February 1927. p. 650.
  2. "Private papers of Major-General Lewis Pugh CB, CBE, DSO". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  3. Correia, Savio (11 March 2018). "Blitzkrieg in the Backyard: Goa's tryst with WW II". Herald Goa. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  4. Jon Zimmerman, Dwight (10 August 2013). "Operation Creek: SOE Enlists an "Over the Hill Gang" for a Mission". Defense Media Network. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  5. "Army Commands" (PDF). Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  6. "No. 43286". The London Gazette. 31 March 1964. p. 2849.
  7. "2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles)". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 29 December 2005. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  8. "The Sea Wolves". IMDB. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
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