British Army Field Marshal. The son of a local bank manager and a mother from Kentucky, he attended the Royal Military College and was commissioned on May 6, 1901. He was a British Commander in World War I and World War II and served as Chief of the Imperial General Staff from May 1940 to December of 1941. Among his many awards was the Knight Grand Cross of the Bath, the Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, and the Companion of the Order of the Bath. The United States also awarded him the Distinguished Service Medal posthumously. He was promoted to Field Marshal on November 18, 1941. It was clear by that time that he and Churchill, who considered him overcautious, did not get along. By the end of the year he was dispatched to Washington DC where he became the Senior British Representative on the Combined Chiefs of Staff. President Roosevelt described Dill as "the most important figure in the remarkable accord which has been developed in the combined operations of our two countries." He was particularly friendly with General George Marshall, the United States Chief of Staff, and it was under Marshall's influence that Dill was buried in Arlington after he died of aplastic anemia. He and Major General Philip Kearney who was killed in the Civil War are the only two graves in Arlington marked with equestrian statues.
British Army Field Marshal. The son of a local bank manager and a mother from Kentucky, he attended the Royal Military College and was commissioned on May 6, 1901. He was a British Commander in World War I and World War II and served as Chief of the Imperial General Staff from May 1940 to December of 1941. Among his many awards was the Knight Grand Cross of the Bath, the Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, and the Companion of the Order of the Bath. The United States also awarded him the Distinguished Service Medal posthumously. He was promoted to Field Marshal on November 18, 1941. It was clear by that time that he and Churchill, who considered him overcautious, did not get along. By the end of the year he was dispatched to Washington DC where he became the Senior British Representative on the Combined Chiefs of Staff. President Roosevelt described Dill as "the most important figure in the remarkable accord which has been developed in the combined operations of our two countries." He was particularly friendly with General George Marshall, the United States Chief of Staff, and it was under Marshall's influence that Dill was buried in Arlington after he died of aplastic anemia. He and Major General Philip Kearney who was killed in the Civil War are the only two graves in Arlington marked with equestrian statues.
Bio by: Tom Todd
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