Short Notes On Hastings Ismay

He exerted the largest impact on Churchill’s government as chief of staff to Churchill in his capacity as minister of defence and as his personal representative to the CSC from 1940 to 1946. He attended all significant inter-Allied conferences during the second world war, and he was instrumental in the decision to make Germany the most important target of the Allies and in the planning of France’s 1944 invasion. In 1947, he was elevated to the peerage with the British Indian Army  in the period of 21 June 1887 – 17 December 1965

Early Life:

Hastings Ismay, born on June 21, 1887, in Nainital, India, was a well-known General in the British Indian Army. Beatrice Ellen, his mother, was the daughter of  Sir Stanley Ismay, an Army colonel, and his father, who served on the Viceroy’s Legislative Council. Ismay started his education in Britain at the Charterhouse School, and his parents expected him to attend Cambridge afterwards and join the civil service.

Ismay could not enrol in Cambridge because he “had a hidden yearning to be a cavalry soldier” and performed poorly on his final Charterhouse exams. So, in 1904, he enrolled in Sandhurst’s Royal Military College. Ismay loved his time at Sandhurst and studied with many individuals who became significant military officers, including Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt, Lord Gort, and Cyril Newall. 

Hastings Ismay and the Indian Army:

Ismay was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Indian Army after completing the course at Sandhurst and placing fourth overall in the tests. Ismay next completed a one-year required apprenticeship with the Gloucestershire Regiment of the British Army in Ambala. Ismay spent nine months moving between postings with various British and Indian regiments after leaving the regiment since he could not get a position in the Indian cavalry right away.

Ismay joined the 21st Prince Albert Victor’s Own Cavalry, based in Risalpur, in 1907 after finding a permanent job in the Indian cavalry. He participated in his regiment’s first combat in 1908 when it was deployed into Afghanistan to hunt down Mohmad raiders who had kidnapped many Hindu women. Ismay was hospitalised in Peshawar for heat stroke shortly after his regiment returned from combat. Still, he swiftly recovered and was awarded the India General Service Medal alongside the rest of his battalion.

Ismay’s unit relocated from Risalpur to Jhelum, farther from the frontier, in 1910 due to an Indian Army reorganisation. Ismay was soon given the job of adjutant of his regiment, which he maintained for four years and during which he also read voraciously and grew to admire Winston Churchill, whom he tried to imitate.

What Happened After the First World War?

Ismay departed Somaliland for England in April 1920 during the interwar period. He learned that he had been selected for admission to the Quetta Staff College of the Indian Army when he was travelling. Ismay declined the nomination and “was seriously thinking of quitting commission” in the Army because he was depressed about the death and destruction of the First World War. 

Ismay received a twelve-month medical leave after landing in London and chose to remain in the army. Then, when he went to the Staff College to retrieve his place, he was informed that it had already been assigned to another person.

During the Second World War:

The CID was swiftly included in the War Cabinet upon the start of the Second World War. Ismay received a promotion to Major-General in the midst of the upheaval and started collaborating closely with Chamberlain, travelling with him to France in December 1939. Ismay had reservations about several Allied tactical choices, such as the one to try to halt the German advance in Belgium, but he kept these reservations to himself.

Hastings Ismay and Winston Churchill:

Ismay assumed the position of Committee Secretary on August 1 and started preparations for potential British involvement in the war. Winston Churchill chose Ismay to lead a small, carefully chosen secretariat when he was appointed prime minister and minister of defence in May 1940. 

Ismay had to be prepared to leave on short notice for vital missions abroad, including nearly all of the wartime conferences. He handled Churchill’s draught instructions and minutes, the repository of his most confidential concerns, throughout the Second World War. In 1942, he was made a lieutenant-general and, in 1944, a full general.

Ismay served in the Army for an additional year after the war, helping restructure the Ministry of Defence. For service of outstanding national significance, he received The Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in 1945. Ismay was appointed a Baron in 1947 when Clement Attlee, the new prime minister, felt that his contributions had not been appropriately acknowledged in 1946.

Hastings Ismay and Mountbatten:

Ismay officially retired from the Army on December 31, 1946, but Lord Louis Mountbatten insisted on having Ismay serve as his Chief of Staff after being named Viceroy of India. Ismay worked with Mountbatten from 1948 to 1951, although he did not like this period in India. In addition, he did not share Churchill’s affection for Mountbatten and did not support the strategy of partition. 

Additionally, he failed to convince the leaders of India and Pakistan to delay splitting the Indian army and to heed his request for a plebiscite on whether Kashmir should join India or Pakistan. He turned down the Star of India’s grand cross.

As NATO’s Secretary-General:

Ismay’s actions as the first NATO Secretary-General had a considerable impact on the duties he was required to play as the spokesperson for the alliance, vice-chair of the North Atlantic Council (NAC), sparker of ideas, conciliator, mediator, administrator, negotiator, and foreign diplomat.

Ismay thought political authorities should have precedence over military powers. Thus, establishing processes by which the Standing Group down military authorities, would set their plans and programmes through him to the Council and act in every way with the work of the International Staff Secretariat was one of his proudest accomplishments at NATO.

Conclusion:

Queen Elizabeth II invested Ismay as a King of the Garter, Britain’s highest honour, following his retirement from NATO in May 1957. Ismay was nominated to the boards of various organisations, including the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation, despite being in poor health and already being 70 years old at the time of his retirement. 

After helping Churchill write his six-volume history of the Second World War, he was also able to publish his own memoirs in 1960. (1948- 1953). Intriguingly, Ismay’s memoirs emphasise his service during World War II, saying that going into detail about his time in NATO would require a separate volume.

Ismay was requested to help Sir Ian Jacob study the British military’s structure in 1963. He couldn’t offer much to the review because of his illness. In December 1965, he passed away at his house. His title died upon his passing because he had no male successor.