Dudley Russell

Lieutenant General Sir Dudley Russell KBE, CB, DSO, MC (1 December 18964 February 1978) was a senior officer of both the British Army and the British Indian Army, and served during World War I and World War II, where he commanded the 8th Indian Infantry Division during the Italian Campaign from late 1943 until the end of the war in 1945. Early career Russell received a temporary commission in 1914 and in 1915 joined the 7th (Service) Battalion, Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) with whom he served during World War I. In October 1917 he transferred to the British Indian Army and in November was commissioned as a lieutenant into the 97th Deccan Infantry serving in Egypt. In March 1919, as an acting captain he was awarded the MC, the citation for which read Russell's promotion to substantive captain did not come until 1923 but was antedated to June 1919. In the 1922 reorganisation of the Indian Army his regiment became the 3rd Battalion of the 19th Hyderabad Regiment. During the period between the world wars he attended the Staff College, Quetta. In 1935 he transferred to the 6th Royal (Scinde) battalion 13th Frontier Force Rifles. In 1936 he qualified as a higher standard interpreter in Pashto which resulted in his widely used nickname of "Pasha". He was promoted lieutenant colonel in April 1938 and commanded the 6th Battalion from 1938 to 1940.