Vyvyan Pope facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Vyvyan Pope
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Second Lieutenant Vyvyan Pope photographed in Cambridge in August 1914, shortly before embarking for France as the junior subaltern of the 1st Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment.
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| Born | 30 September 1891 London, England |
| Died | 5 October 1941 (aged 50) |
| Buried |
Cairo War Memorial Cemetery, Cairo, Egypt
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| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |
 British Army |
| Years of service | 1911–1941 |
| Rank | Lieutenant-General |
| Service number | 5475 |
| Unit | North Staffordshire Regiment Royal Tank Regiment |
| Commands held | 1st Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment 3rd Armoured Brigade XXX Corps |
| Battles/wars | First World War Russian Civil War Anglo Irish War Second World War |
| Awards | Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order MC and Bar Mentioned in despatches |
Lieutenant-General Vyvyan Vavasour Pope was a high-ranking British Army officer. He was born on September 30, 1891, and died on October 5, 1941. Pope was very important in developing new ideas about how to use tanks and other armored vehicles in battles during the years between the two World Wars. He briefly led a group of soldiers called XXX Corps during the Second World War before he sadly died in a plane crash.
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Early Life and School
Vyvyan Pope was born in London on September 30, 1891. His father, James Pope, worked for the government, and his mother was Blanche Holmwood Pope.
Vyvyan went to two schools in Sussex, England. First, he attended Ascham St Vincent's School, a school for young boys. Then, he went to Lancing College, a boarding school for older boys. He was at Lancing College from 1906 to 1910. While there, he played on the school's football team. He was also part of the school's Officer Training Corps, where he learned military skills and became a sergeant.
Military Career
Joining the Army
Vyvyan Pope began his army career on March 8, 1911. He became a second lieutenant, a junior officer, in the 4th Battalion of the North Staffordshire Regiment. This was part of the Special Reserve, which meant he was a volunteer soldier who had not served before. His rank was officially confirmed later that year.
In 1912, he passed an exam that allowed him to join the regular army. On December 4, 1912, he became a junior officer in the 1st Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment. At this time, he served in Ireland.
Fighting in the First World War
When the First World War started in August 1914, Pope's battalion moved to England. A month later, they went to the Western Front in France, where much of the fighting happened.
Pope stayed with his battalion for most of the war. He fought in many important battles, including:
- The First Battle of Ypres
- The Battle of Neuve Chapelle, where he earned the Military Cross for bravery.
- Two serious gas attacks at Wulverghem in 1916. His actions in the first gas attack earned him the Distinguished Service Order, another award for bravery.
- The Battle of the Somme
- The Battle of Messines
He also took part in the Christmas truce of 1914. During this truce, soldiers from both sides stopped fighting for a short time around Christmas.
In June 1917, Pope, now a captain, took command of the 1st North Staffs battalion. He led them in the Third Battle of Ypres. One of his officers, Bernard Martin, later wrote that Pope told his soldiers to walk steadily towards the enemy trenches instead of charging. This was a new tactic. The battalion faced heavy losses, with half of their attacking force being lost.
On March 21, 1918, Pope's battalion was in the trenches near Saint-Quentin when Germany launched a huge attack called Operation Michael. Pope was shot in the elbow. Sadly, he developed an infection, and his right arm had to be removed. After this, every year on March 21, he would drink a glass of port to remember his friends who died.
Between the World Wars
After the war, Pope still wanted to serve in the military. In 1919, he joined a force helping in the Russian Civil War. He commanded a unit made of British soldiers and prisoners, but this mission was not very successful.
He then returned to Britain and served in Ireland during the Irish War of Independence. In April 1920, he joined the Royal Tank Corps (RTC). He went back to Ireland with an armored car company.
Pope studied at the Staff College, Camberley from 1924 to 1925. Here, he learned advanced military strategies. In 1926, he worked at the Royal Tank Corps Centre. He became very important in developing new ideas about how to use tanks in battle. He believed tanks would be key in future wars.
In 1935, he was sent to Egypt to lead the Royal Tank Corps there. His job was to show how useful tanks and other mechanized forces could be. This experience taught him a lot about fighting in the desert.
Leading in the Second World War
When the Second World War began in September 1939, Pope became Chief of Staff for II Corps. He even designed their special badge, which showed a salmon jumping over a "brook," as a fun reference to his commander, Alan Brooke.
In April 1940, he became the Inspector of the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC). He also advised on armored vehicles at the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) headquarters in France. He played a key role in the counter-attack at Arras on May 21, 1940. This attack, though it didn't stop the Germans, surprised them.
Pope was evacuated from Dunkirk at the end of May. He then worked at the War Office in London, where he helped start the production of the A22 tank, later known as the Churchill tank.
By 1941, the war in the Western Desert campaign in North Africa became very important. A major attack against the Germans, called Operation Crusader, was planned. In August 1941, Pope was chosen to lead XXX Corps, a group of soldiers with many tanks.
He flew to Egypt in September to prepare for the battle. But on October 5, 1941, while flying to a meeting, his plane crashed in the Mocattam Hills. Vyvyan Pope and everyone else on board were killed. He was a brilliant leader who helped shape how tanks were used in modern warfare.
Personal Life
Vyvyan Pope married Sybil Moore in 1926.
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 | Pauline Powell Burns |
 | Frederick J. Brown |
 | Robert Blackburn |
