Richard Anderson (British Army officer)

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Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Neville Anderson KCB CBE DSO (28 April 1907 – 4 September 1979) was a senior British Army officer who served in the Second World War and held high command in the 1960s.

He was born in Chelsea, London, the son of Colonel Sir Neville Anderson. He was educated at New Beacon School, Tonbridge School, and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. After passing out from Sandhurst, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) on 1 September 1927. He served with the 2nd Battalion, King's Own during the interwar years, was promoted to lieutenant in 1930 and to captain in 1936, and from 1937 served as his battalion’s adjutant. In Palestine he served during the Arab revolt and was mentioned in dispatches on 15 September 1939.

During the Second World War, Anderson initially remained in his battalion role before returning to England in April 1940 to become Deputy Assistant Military Secretary at the War Office. From May to September 1940 he was brigade major with the 199th Infantry Brigade, part of the 55th (West Lancashire) Infantry Division. In 1944 he became commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster), and led it in the Italian Campaign. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for leading an attack on the village of Montone, a movement that inflicted relatively light casualties on his side and significantly weakened the enemy. He was later promoted to brigadier and commanded the 2nd Infantry Brigade in the Italian Campaign as part of the 1st Infantry Division.

After the war, Anderson returned to Palestine before taking command of the 17th Gurkha Division in 1955. He then served as General Officer Commanding Overseas Forces in Malaya in 1957 and as Vice Adjutant General at the War Office from 1958. In 1960 he became General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Middle East Land Forces and in 1963 he was General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Ireland Command, retiring in 1965. He was Regimental Colonel of the 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles from 1959 to 1966.

In his personal life, Anderson lived at Tarrant Keynston House near Blandford in Dorset. He married Dorrie Norah Wybergh in 1942, and they had two sons.

Anderson received multiple honors, including Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB), Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), and was mentioned in dispatches.