General Sir Richard Edward Worsley, (29 May 1923 – 23 February 2013) was a senior British Army officer who fought in the Second World War and later commanded 1st (British) Corps.
Early life Worsley was born on 29 May 1923 at Ballywalter, County Down, Northern Ireland, the son of Herbert Henry Knight Worsley, JP (1885–1947) of Lough House, Grey Abbey, County Down,The Times 13 Sept 1947, p. 1 by Rose Austen (died 30 April 1958),The Times 1 May 1958, p. 1 only daughter of John Alfred Hives of Upper Plain, Masterton, New Zealand, farmer,Wairarapa Daily Times (New Zealand) 17 Nov 1915, p. 5 and widow of Major Meyrick Myler Magrath, DSO, Royal Field Artillery, of Dorking House, Cosham, Hampshire.The Times 23 Jan 1922, p. 13 He was educated at Radley College.Robertson-Glasgow, R. W., St. Peter's College Radley Register 1847–1962, pp. 189, 467Radley College Foundation Report 2004
His uncles were the first-class cricket batsmen A. E. Worsley and C. E. A. Worsley, who both played for Northamptonshire.Arthur Worsley at CricketArchive
Military career During the Second World War Worsley was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the British Army's Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) in 1942. He served in the Middle East and Italy.
After the war he then served in the Malayan Emergency in 1948.Debrett's People of Today 1974 He became an instructor at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst later in 1948 and then became Commanding Officer (CO) of the 1st The Royal Dragoons in 1962.
He took command of the 7th Armoured Brigade in 1965 and Chief of Staff Far East Land Forces in 1969. He became General Officer Commanding (GOC) 3rd Division in 1972 and GOC 1st (British) Corps in 1976. His final appointment was as Quartermaster-General to the Forces in 1979; he retired in 1982. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1964 New Year Honours and a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1976 Birthday Honours. He was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1982 New Year Honours.
He lived at Goring Heath in South OxfordshireCadets help pick grapes Henley Standard, 16 November 2009 and died on 23 February 2013.
Personal life He married on 6 May 1959 at Holy Trinity Church, Brompton, London, to Sarah Anne "Sally", eldest daughter of Brigadier J. A. H. Mitchell of the British Embassy, Paris,The Times 7 May 1959, p. 14 and they went on to have a son, Henry, and a daughter, Charlotte. On 7 Nov 1980, he married Caroline Carnegie, Duchess of Fife.The Times 8 Nov 1980, p. 16
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