Willoughby Norrie, 1st Baron Norrie

Lieutenant-General Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie, 1st Baron Norrie GCMG, GCVO, CB, DSO, MC & Bar (26 September 1893 – 25 May 1977) was a British Army general during the Second World War, following which he served terms as Governor of South Australia and the eighth Governor-General of New Zealand.

Army career
After education at Eton and at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst he was commissioned into the 11th Hussars in 1913. He served in the First World War, in which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, the Military Cross and Bar, was twice mentioned in despatches, and was wounded four times. He became, successively, a Staff Captain in the 73rd Infantry Brigade; General Staff Officer Grade 3 (GSO3) in the XVIIIth Army Corps; Brigade Major in the 90th Infantry Brigade, and in the 2nd Tank Brigade; and second General Staff Officer in the 2nd Tank Corps. In January 1919 he changed his name by deed poll from Moke-Norrie to Norrie.

Between the wars he had a number of regimental and staff postings interrupted by a year at Staff College in 1924. In 1931 he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and took command of the 11th Hussars after which he was placed on the half-pay (inactive) list although promoted to full colonel in 1935. In January 1936, still on the half pay list, Norrie took part in the funeral procession for King George V as one of the "Representative Colonels-Commandant and Colonels of His late Majesty's Regiments". In April 1936 he was appointed to command the 1st Cavalry Brigade as a temporary brigadier. His brigade was mechanised in 1938 and re-designated 1st Light Armoured Brigade, becoming the 1st Armoured Brigade in 1940.

On the outbreak of the Second World War Norrie continued to serve as commander of 1st Armoured Brigade. In April 1940 the brigade was part of 2nd Armoured Division which he was given temporary command of for a month between appointments of permanent commanders. Following this he was appointed acting major-general and became Inspector of the Royal Armoured Corps. Four months later he became GOC 1st Armoured Division and was promoted to the permanent rank of major-general in June 1941. In November 1941 the division was ordered to Egypt where Norrie found himself appointed acting lieutenant-general to command XXX Corps in the place of Vyvyan Pope who had died in an air crash shortly before Norrie's arrival in Egypt. He commanded XXX Corps during Operation Crusader with some success but his tanks suffered a heavy defeat at the Battle of Gazala in June 1942. He was criticised for his "cavalry" approach to armoured warfare and Eighth Army commander Claude Auchinleck replaced him in July. He returned to Britain to be appointed Commander of the Royal Armoured Corps in which role he was to give advice on armoured warfare to Bernard Paget, the C-in-C Home Forces. He continued as Paget's advisor when Paget became commander of 21st Army Group on its formation in July 1943 but when Bernard Montgomery assumed command early in 1944, he brought his own advisor. In April 1944 Norrie was appointed Head of the Military Mission to the French Committee of National Liberation (CFLN) in Algiers, a post he held until the middle of 1944 when he was proposed by the Secretary of State for the Dominions to become Governor of South Australia.

Norrie retired from the army in September 1944 to take up his post as Governor of South Australia. Although his substantive rank at this time was still major-general, he was given the honorary rank of lieutenant-general in retirement.

Family
Norrie was married to Jocelyn Helen Gosling on 9 June 1922. They had three children:
 * Diana Norrie (born 7 May 1923)
 * Hon. Rosemary Norrie (born 28 March 1926)
 * George Willoughby Moke Norrie (born 27 April 1936)

Jocelyn Norrie died on 7 March 1938. He remarried later that year, to Patricia Merryweather Bainbridge, on 28 November. They also had three children:
 * Guy Bainbridge Norrie (born 3 May 1940)
 * Sarah Norrie (born 27 June 1943)
 * Annabel Mary Adelaide Norrie (born 23 December 1945)

Norrie also had a ward, his niece Eleanor Kerans (born 21 April 1926). She had been orphaned at an early age, and when she was 16 her brother was killed in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, leaving her with no immediate family.

Governor of South Australia


Norrie was appointed Governor of South Australia in September 1944, whereupon he was knighted KCMG. He, his family and 12 staff arrived in Adelaide in December. The Vice-Regal couple worked hard to keep the "Empire Spirit" alive during wartime. Within two years, Norrie had travelled to every local government area within the state, and was sure to welcome servicemen returning from war. Lady Patricia, with Rosemary and Eleanor, were regular volunteers and champions of various patriotic causes. In 1945, Norrie was made a Knight of St. John, an award associated with public and charitable works.

Although normally remaining neutral in regards to local politics, he was "shocked" at the narrow rejection of Thomas Playford's bill to nationalise the Adelaide Electric Company. He privately exerted pressure on the bill's main opponents. When the bill was reintroduced in 1946, Sir Collier Cudmore absented himself from key divisions, allowing the bill to pass and leading to the establishment of the Electricity Trust of South Australia.

Norrie's term was extended for four years in 1948.

Despite his illustrious career, he would forever claim that his greatest achievement was the catching of a shark weighing 2225 lb, with rod and reel, off Port Lincoln!

Governor-General of New Zealand
Norrie's KCMG was promoted to GCMG when he was appointed Governor-General of New Zealand in 1952, in which position he served until 1957. During his tenure he was made GCVO for personal services to the Queen. On leaving office he was created a peer in 1957 as Baron Norrie, of Wellington in the Dominion of New Zealand and of Upton in the County of Gloucester. From 1960 to 1968 he was Chancellor of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George.

Styles
Note: An asterisk (*) denotes a bar to a military award


 * 1893–1913: Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie
 * 1913–1915: Lieutenant Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie
 * 1915–1917: Lieutenant Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie, MC
 * 1917–1918: Lieutenant Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie, MC*
 * 1918–1919: Captain Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie, MC*
 * 1919–1924: Captain Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie, DSO, MC*
 * 1924–1931: Major Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie, DSO, MC*
 * 1931–1935: Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie, DSO, MC*
 * 1935–1938: Colonel Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie, DSO, MC*
 * 1938–1940: Colonel (Temp. Brigadier) Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie, DSO, MC*
 * 1940 – June 1941: Colonel (Actg. Major-General) Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie, DSO, MC*
 * June–September 1941: Major-General Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie, DSO, MC*
 * September 1941–1942: Major-General (Actg. Lieutenant-General) Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie, DSO, MC*
 * 1942–1944: Major-General (Actg. Lieutenant-General) Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie, CB, DSO, MC*
 * 1944–1952: Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie, KCMG, CB, DSO, MC*
 * 1952–1954: Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie, GCMG, CB, DSO, MC*
 * 1954–1957: Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie, GCMG, GCVO, CB, DSO, MC*
 * 1957–1977: Lieutenant-General The Right Honourable the Lord Norrie, GCMG, GCVO, CB, DSO, MC*