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Ronald Scobie

Lieutenant-General Sir Ronald MacKenzie Scobie, KBE, CB, MC (8 June 1893 – 23 February 1969) was a senior British Army officer who fought in both the First and Second World Wars, where he commanded the 70th Infantry Division and later III Corps.

Born~Died Jun 8, 1893 ~ Feb 23, 19690 views in 30 daysLast edited Oct 15, 2026, 6:34 PM

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Born ~ Died: Jun 8, 1893 ~ Feb 23, 1969
Born: (1893-06-08)8 June 1893, Mandalay, British Burma
Died: 23 February 1969(1969-02-23) (aged 75), Aldershot, Hampshire, England
Allegiance: United Kingdom
Branch: British Army
Service years: 1914–1947
Rank: Lieutenant-General
Unit: Royal Engineers
Commands: III Corps, 70th Infantry Division
Conflicts: First World War, Second World War, Greek Civil War
Awards: Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Companion of the Order of the Bath, Military Cross, Mentioned in Despatches (4), War Cross (Czechoslovakia), Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari (Poland)
Position: Centre
Years: Team
–: Army Rugby Union
Years: Team
1914: Blues Trial
Years: Team
1914: Scotland
Location: 21.9831, 96.0844

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Contents

1.Military career
1.1.First World War
1.2.Between the wars
1.3.Second World War
2.Rugby Union career
2.1.Amateur career
2.2.Provincial career
2.3.International career
3.Other sports
4.Bibliography
5.Notes

Lieutenant-General Sir Ronald MacKenzie Scobie, KBE, CB, MC (8 June 1893 – 23 February 1969¹) was a senior British Army officer who fought in both the First and Second World Wars, where he commanded the 70th Infantry Division and later III Corps.² He was also a Scotland international rugby union player.³

Military career

Scobie was educated at Cheltenham College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.⁴

First World War

He was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1914 and served during the First World War on the Western Front in France and Belgium, joining 1st Field Squadron RE in November. He was a General Staff Officer Grade 3 in France in 1918,⁵ and a Brigade Major in France from 1918 to 1920.

Between the wars

After the war, Scobie became Officer, Company of Gentlemen Cadets, Royal Military Academy, Woolwich 1920–1924; Staff Captain, Aldershot Command 1927–1929; Brigade Major, Aldershot Command 1929–1931⁶ After attending the Staff College, Camberley from 1925 to 1926, he became Director of Military Artillery at the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1932 and, after attending the Imperial Defence College, was Assistant Adjutant General at the War Office in 1938.⁶

Second World War

In 1939, at the outbreak of the Second World War Scobie, a brigadier, was deputy director of Mobilisation at the War Office.⁶ After this he held the position Deputy Adjutant General at General Headquarters, Middle East Land Forces in 1940 before being given command of the 70th Infantry Division,⁶ which was sent in to relieve the Australian 9th Division in Tobruk. Scobie was in command of the Tobruk fortress from 22 October 1941 to 13 December 1941, when, as part of Operation Crusader, the 70th Infantry Division led the break-out from Tobruk. In 1942 he became General Officer Commanding the Troops in Malta and on 22 March 1943 Scobie was promoted to lieutenant general and made Chief of the General Staff at General Headquarters Middle East.⁶

From 11 December 1943, Scobie was given command of III Corps,⁷ which was sent to Greece to expel the Germans but ended up becoming involved in the Greek Civil War. On 1 December 1944, Scobie unilaterally issued an order for ELAS, the armed wing of the EAM, to disarm. EAM, resisting the "Scobie Order", staged a demonstration in Athens two days later which involved 200,000 people. During the demonstration, Greek police and gendarmerie opened fire on demonstrators, killing at least 28.⁸ This marked the beginning of the Dekemvriana (Greek: Δεκεμβριανά, "December events"), a 37-day period of fighting in Greece between ELAS and British and Greek government forces. He remained in command of British forces in Greece until 1946, retiring from the army in 1947.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

He played rugby union for the Royal Military College.

He played for the Army Rugby Union against the Royal Navy Rugby Union in the 1914 Inter-Services match.⁹

Provincial career

He played for the Blues Trial side against the Whites Trial side on 10 January 1914.¹⁰

International career

He was capped three times by Scotland, all in 1914.¹¹

Other sports

He played cricket for Cheltenham College and for the Royal Engineers.¹²

Bibliography

Maule, Henry (1975). Scobie, Hero of Greece: The British Campaign, 1944-5. Barker, 1975. ISBN 9780213165543.
Mead, Richard (2007). Churchill's Lions: a biographical guide to the key British generals of World War II. Stroud (UK): Spellmount. ISBN 978-1-86227-431-0.
Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 1844150496.

Notes

The Royal Engineers Journal. Vol. 83. The Institution of Royal Engineers. 1969. p. 152. ↩
"British Army officer histories". Unit Histories. Retrieved 23 June 2017. ↩
"Ronald Mackenzie Scobie". ESPN. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021. ↩
Maule 1975, p. 4. ↩
"No. 30676". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 May 1918. p. 5562. ↩
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
"Ronald Scobie". Orders of Battle.com. ↩
„Bestie Faschismus überlebt“ (Junge Welt, Montag, 14. Oktober 2024)

Military career

Scobie was educated at Cheltenham College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.⁴

First World War

Between the wars

After the war, Scobie became Officer, Company of Gentlemen Cadets, Royal Military Academy, Woolwich 1920–1924; Staff Captain, Aldershot Command 1927–1929; Brigade Major, Aldershot Command 1929–1931⁶ After attending the from 1925 to 1926, he became Director of Military Artillery at the in 1932 and, after attending the , was Assistant Adjutant General at the in 1938.

This page is based on “Ronald Scobie” from English Wikipedia, (r1379853175) CC BY-SA 4.0 used under the license. The original authors are listed in its page history.

Last edited Oct 15, 2026, 6:34 PM · r150168 · Text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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The Royal Engineers Journal. Vol. 83. The Institution of Royal Engineers. 1969. p. 152. ↩
"British Army officer histories". Unit Histories. Retrieved 23 June 2017. ↩
"Ronald Mackenzie Scobie". ESPN. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021. ↩
Maule 1975, p. 4. ↩
"No. 30676". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 May 1918. p. 5562. ↩
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
"Ronald Scobie". Orders of Battle.com. ↩
„Bestie Faschismus überlebt“ (Junge Welt, Montag, 14. Oktober 2024) ↩
"Register". Retrieved 30 August 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive. ↩
"The Glasgow Herald - Google News Archive Search". ↩
"Rugby Union - ESPN Scrum - Statsguru - Player analysis - Ronald Scobie - Test matches". Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021. ↩
"Ronald Scobie". CricketArchive.com. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2022. ↩

The Royal Engineers Journal. Vol. 83. The Institution of Royal Engineers. 1969. p. 152. ↩
"British Army officer histories". Unit Histories. Retrieved 23 June 2017. ↩
"Ronald Mackenzie Scobie". ESPN. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021. ↩
Maule 1975, p. 4. ↩
"No. 30676". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 May 1918. p. 5562. ↩
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
"Ronald Scobie". Orders of Battle.com. ↩
„Bestie Faschismus überlebt“ (Junge Welt, Montag, 14. Oktober 2024)

Ronald Scobie

Military career

First World War

Between the wars

Second World War

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Provincial career

International career

Other sports

Bibliography

Notes

Footnotes

Military career

First World War

Between the wars

Opinions 0

Second World War

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Provincial career

International career

Other sports

Bibliography

Notes

Footnotes

Sub-pages

Nearby events

Other languages

Sub-pages

Nearby events

Military career

First World War

Between the wars

Second World War

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Provincial career

International career

Other sports

Bibliography

Notes

Footnotes

Opinions 0