GeneralSir Robert George Victor FitzGeorge-Balfour, KCB,CBE,DSO,MC,DL (15 September 1913 – 28 December 1994) was a senior officer in the British Army.
Early life
Robert George Victor FitzGeorge-Balfour was born on 15 September 1913 at Knightsbridge, London. He was the son of Robert Shekelton Balfour and Mabel Iris FitzGeorge.[1] After his father's death in 1942, his mother married, in 1945, Russian émigré, Prince Vladimir Galitzine, former aide-de-camp to Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, commander in chief of the Imperial Russian Army.[2]
FitzGeorge-Balfour fought in the Second World War, serving in North Africa, Sicily and North-West Europe as a staff officer with XXX Corps.[5] By March 1941, he was a temporarycaptain.[9] He was made a substantive captain on 1 February 1942,[10] and was a temporary major by October 1943.[11] That same month, he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire "in recognition of gallant and distinguished
services in the Middle East".[11] He served on the general staff of VIII Corps in 1944 and,[12] by 1945, he was a temporary brigadier.[13] He ended the war as a war substantivelieutenant colonel,[14] and was advanced to Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 11 October 1945 "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in North-West Europe".[13] He had been Mentioned in Despatches twice during the war: on 1 April 1941, "for distinguished services in the Middle East during the period August 1939 to November 1940",[9] and on 23 March 1944 "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Sicily".[15]
Having reverted to the rank of captain following the end of the war, FitzGeorge-Balfour was promoted to major on 1 February 1947.[14] In 1948, he was appointed Commanding Officer of the 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards in Malaya.[12] For his command of the battalion during the Malayan Emergency, he was Mentioned in Despatches on 13 December 1949 and awarded the Distinguished Service Order on 18 September 1950.[16][17]
FitzGeorge-Balfour married Mary Diana Christian (1914–1994), daughter of Adm. Arthur Christian and Geraldine Diana Monsell, at the Chapel Royal of St. James's Palace on 4 December 1943.[5] Together they had two children:[2]
Diana Mary Christian FitzGeorge-Balfour (b. 1946)[2]
Robert Victor FitzGeorge-Balfour (b. 1951), an investment banker who married Patricia Anne Christiana Rowntree, a daughter of Charles William Rowntree, in 1976.[2]
FitzGeorge-Balfour died on 28 December 1994 at West Chiltington, West Sussex. He was buried on 4 January 1995 at Findon Crematorium, Worthing, West Sussex.[20]
^ abRobin F. Balfour, "re: Admiral Arthur Christian," e-mail message to Darryl Lundy, 7 April 2004. Hereinafter cited as "re: Admiral Arthur Christian."
^ abcdAnnouncements, The Times, London, U.K., 29 December 1984. Hereinafter cited as The Times.
^The last male male-line member of the family, Commander George FitzGeorge (1892–1960), died childless in 1960. The male-line went completely extinct in 1976, when Mabel Iris FitzGeorge died.