North African Campaign,
1940-1942
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Brigadier Lindsay M Inglis was born at Mosgiel, Otago, on 16 May 1894, was educated at Waitaki Boys’ High School and studied law at the University of Otago. He also served in the 2nd (South Canterbury) Regiment and joined the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (First World War) on 30 April 1915 serving with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. After deploying to Egypt his battalion was sent to the Western Front in April 1916 and on 15 September 1916 he won the Military Cross. In March 1917 he was transferred to the
New Zealand Machine Gun Corps until his discharge in April 1919. He returned to New Zealand and married his fiancée in Wellington in December 1919. Inglis completed his law studies in 1920 and eventually became CO of the 3rd New Zealand Infantry Brigade in July 1931. At the start of World War Two, Inglis immediately volunteered and took command of the 27th (Machine Gun) Battalion in December 1939 and assumed command of the 4th New Zealand Infantry Brigade on Crete on 17 May 1941, immediately before the German invasion. Afterwards, he commanded it throughout the ill-conceived Crusader offensive in late 1941, taking over command of the New Zealand Division at Mersa Matruh after Freyberg was wounded. He also led the division during the attacks on Ruweisat Ridge and the El Mreir depression. He then reorganised the 4th Brigade as an armoured brigade, briefly serving as divisional commander in June–July 1943 in Freyberg’s absence, but found little opportunity to command his formation as a whole as many units were detached to support the infantry brigades. Becoming disillusioned, he returned to New Zealand and was made a military CBE in 1944. In July 1945 he was appointed president of a military government court in the British zone of occupied Germany and was to preside over criminal cases brought by Germans involving the Allied occupying powers, and cases dealing with Allied nationals.