Major General JB Dye CBE MC DL Royal Norfolk Regiment

Obituary for Major General JB Dye CBE MC DL

Major General Jack Dye, who has died aged 93, commanded the South Arabian Federation’s Regular Army (FRA) from 1966 to 1968 – the most difficult period of its existence.

The Federation was composed of 17 states in what would become South Yemen, and Dye had the daunting task of carrying out policy decisions against the background of the impending British withdrawal from Aden, tribal rivalries within the Army and virtually no support from the weak federal government to whose ministers he was responsible.

Despite being subjected to pressures from many quarters, he never lost sight of the importance of keeping his force intact as the single stabilising factor in the fluid and volatile state of affairs in South Arabia. His men were dangerously susceptible to the propaganda of the extremists but, with an adroit mixture of firmness and tact, he managed to achieve a balance between the opposing factions within the Army.

None the less, on the morning of June 20 1967, elements of the Army mutinied. They burned down their barracks and broke into the armoury. It is a measure of Dye’s success that the rest of his force remained loyal and played a vital role in helping to restore order.

The welding of the FRA into an effective force was achieved at considerable personal risk. Deprived of the support from above and below which a commander could normally expect, Dye lived a lonely and at times dangerous existence. He was appointed CBE at the end of his tour.

Jack Bertie Dye was born at Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, on December 13 1919 and educated locally. He joined the Royal Norfolk Regiment and took part in the D-Day landings in June 1944. On March 1 1945 he was in command of a company which led a battalion night infiltration near Kapellen, a few miles west of the Rhine.

The objective was a fortified house and their route took them through a dense forest. The position of the Germans was not known and the operation had to be performed without alerting the enemy. Dye spotted them, however, and guided the whole battalion through without incident – apart from the silent grabbing of a prisoner.
Taking one of his platoons up to the house, he achieved complete surprise, captured five prisoners and sent them quietly to the rear. With another platoon, he attacked a group of the enemy in the garden and took more prisoners. When he and his men came under heavy artillery fire, he swiftly organised his defences and, two hours later, drove off a determined counter-attack.

Later that day he led his men through the forest, repelling more attacks on the way, and established an outpost on the far side. His inspired leadership over a period of three days and nights with scarcely any sleep was recognised by the award of an immediate MC.

In the 1950s Dye served in regimental and staff appointments in Egypt, Hong Kong, Cyprus and Germany and was an instructor at the School of Infantry, Warminster. From 1962 to 1965 he commanded the 1st East Anglian Regiment and, subsequently, the 1st Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment. He took the battalion to Aden in 1964 and, under his direction; it quickly mastered its role on internal security operations in the Radfan and the border areas.

He was GOC Eastern District from 1969 to 1971 and Colonel Commandant of the Queen’s Division from 1970 to 1974. After leaving the Army, Dye was a governor of Framlingham College for 38 years and for almost 20 years chaired the finance and general purposes committee.

Settled in Suffolk, he farmed strawberries and asparagus. Until the end of his life he ran two shoots and enjoyed fly fishing in Scotland. He was also an accomplished picture framer. He was Colonel of the Royal Anglian Regiment from 1976 to 1982 and Vice Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk from 1983 to 1994.

Jack Dye married, in 1942, Jean Prall, who survives him with their two daughters.

Maj Gen Jack Dye, born 13 December 1919, died 10 June 2013

Courtesy of Daily Telegraph