General Sir Miles Christopher Dempsey, GBE, KCB, DSO, MC, DL was a senior British Army officer who served in both world wars. During the Second World War he commanded the Second Army in north west Europe. A highly professional and dedicated career soldier who made his reputation in active service, Miles Dempsey was highly thought of by both his superiors and subordinates, most notably Bernard Montgomery, although he remains relatively unknown.
A 1915 graduate of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Dempsey was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Berkshire Regiment. As a junior officer, he fought on the Western Front during the First World War, where he was wounded, and was awarded the Military Cross. After the war he served in Iraq during the Iraqi revolt of 1920, in Iran during the Russian Civil War, and in India.
During the Second World War Dempsey formed a close relationship with Bernard Montgomery. He commanded the 13th Brigade in the Battle of France in 1940, and then spent the next two years training troops in England. He commanded the Eighth Army's XIII Corps in the Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy in 1943.