Educated at
Monmouth School and the
Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Whitfield was
commissioned as a
second lieutenant into the
Queen's Royal Regiment,
British Army, on 20 December 1918. Unable to see service in the
First World War, he continued to serve in the army during the
interwar period, where he remained in both East and West Africa for many years, serving with the
Royal West African Frontier Force. Returning to England, he attended the
Staff College, Camberley from 1934 to 1935, married in 1936, and was a
brigade major with the
King's African Rifles from 1937 to 1939. He returned to England in 1942 during the
Second World War, where he became
Commanding Officer (CO) of the 2/5th Battalion, Queen's Royal Regiment in July, leading the battalion in
Iraq,
Palestine,
Egypt and
Libya and in the final stages of the
Tunisian campaign in late April 1943. Whitfield was awarded the
Distinguished Service Order (DSO), "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the Middle East", on 19 August. He then led the battalion in many battles in the
Italian Campaign, including in the
Allied invasion of Italy in September, followed by the capture of
Naples, the crossing of the
Volturno Line, both in October, and, fighting in front of the
Bernhardt Line, part of the
Winter Line, the
Battle for Monte la Difensa in December. He briefly commanded the
169th (Queens) Infantry Brigade, his battalion's parent formation, in October and November 1943. In January 1944 he took command of the
15th Infantry Brigade, commanding the brigade in the
First Battle of Monte Cassino, later taking part in the
Battle of Anzio. He briefly served as a
Brigadier on the General Staff of
V Corps. In July he became the
General Officer Commanding (GOC)
56th (London) Infantry Division, rising from battalion to divisional command in the space of just six months. He led the division in the attack on the
Gothic Line in the latter half of 1944 and the
offensive in Italy in April 1945. The 56th Division was deactivated in Austria after the war and Whitfield subsequently became GOC
50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division and Northumbrian District in October 1946,
chief of staff at
Northern Command in January 1948 and Inspector of Recruiting at the
War Office in 1951 before he finally retired from the army in 1955. ==References==