Archibald Nye

British Army officer (1895–1967)

Lieutenant General Sir Archibald Edward Nye, (23 April 1895 – 13 November 1967) was a senior British Army officer who served in both world wars. In the latter he served as Vice Chief of the Imperial General Staff (VCIGS). After the Second World War he served as Governor of Madras, after which Nehru asked for him to stay on as High Commissioner in India. He subsequently served as High Commissioner to Canada.

Archibald Edward Nye was born on 23 April 1895 at Ship Street Barracks, Dublin, to Charles Edward Nye and Mary Sexton. He was the second of three sons born to the couple, who also had three daughters. His father was a regimental sergeant major in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, British Army. Nye was educated at the Duke of York's Royal Military School, a boarding school for sons of non commissioned officers, and desired to become a schoolmaster. But the First World War broke out at this juncture and Nye joined the Army.

At the outset of the Great War, Nye went to France with the British Expeditionary Force in 1914, serving for just over a year as a non commissioned officer in the Corps of Army Schoolmasters attached to the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. In 1915, as a sergeant, he was selected for a permanent commission in the Prince of Wales' Leinster Regiment, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 5 December 1915. He was further promoted to lieutenant on 5 September 1916, and to the acting rank of captain in August 1917. Wounded twice in action, he was awarded the Military Cross for bravery. The official citation for this ward reads:

When the Leinster Regiment was disbanded, Nye was transferred to the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Following this, he served as a staff officer in Air Cooperation from 1926−28 before becoming a brigade major with the 33rd Infantry Brigade. Brevetted to major on 1 July 1930, he completed his graduation in law and qualified as a barrister at the Inner Temple in 1932. He was then posted as an instructor to the Staff College with the local rank of lieutenant colonel, and advanced to brevet lieutenant colonel on 1 July 1934. Nye was promoted to the substantive rank of major on 8 September 1935, and to the substantive rank of lieutenant colonel in September 1937. From late 1937 to early 1939 he commanded the 2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment. In February 1940 he returned to London to take up the post of deputy director of Staff Duties, War Office and became Director of Staff Duties with the acting rank of major general from 1 November. Promoted to substantive major general on 18 November 1941, in December he became Vice Chief of the Imperial General Staff under Sir Alan Brooke with the acting rank of lieutenant general from 5 December. The enormous burdens placed on Brooke meant that he needed to delegate many of his tasks and for this he relied heavily on Nye. The partnership was highly successful and Nye remained in the job for the rest of the war. It could be said that while Brooke ran the war, Nye ran the army. Advanced to the temporary rank of lieutenant general on 5 December 1942, in the 1944 Birthday Honours Nye was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, the first of five knighthoods he would ultimately be conferred with. He was promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant general on 14 September 1944. Nye retired on 29 March 1946.

Following his retirement, Nye was appointed Governor of Madras on 26 February 1946, took charge on 5 May 1946 and served as governor till 7 September 1948. The day prior to his appointment as governor there was a major labour strike in Madras. These rebellions were aided and abetted by the Communists who established miniature governments along the northern frontiers of the Presidency, thereby demanding military action. The Recruits Training Centre was moved from Madukkarai near Coimbatore to Wellington in February 1947. In November 1947, when Sir Frederick Gentle, the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, resigned over the Government of India order that the Chief Minister of the particular state should be consulted along with the Union Home Minister with regard to the selection of High Court judges, Nye expressed support for Gentle against political interference in appointment of judges. Nye presided over independence day celebrations in Madras city. On 15 August 1947, Nye was sworn in by Chief Justice Gentle as the first governor of Madras in the Dominion of India while O. P. Ramaswami Reddiar was sworn in as Premier. Nye unfurled the Indian tricolour at the Island Grounds.