Allan Taylor (British Army officer)

Lieutenant General Sir Allan Macnab Taylor, (26 March 1919 – 13 June 2004) was a British Army officer who commanded the 1st Division from 1968 to 1970.

Military career
Educated at Fyling Hall School, Taylor was commissioned into the Royal Armoured Corps in 1940 during the Second World War. As a squadron commander with the 7th Royal Tank Regiment, he took part in the Normandy landings in June 1944, the seizing of a bridgehead over the River Odon later in the month and the Battle for Caen in July 1944. He also took part in the crossing of the River Rhine in March 1945.

Taylor was made commanding officer of the 5th Royal Tank Regiment in 1960 and commanding officer of the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment in 1961. He was appointed assistant adjutant and quartermaster general for the 1st Armoured Division in 1962, Commandant of the Royal Armoured Corps Gunnery School at Lulworth in 1963 and commander of the Berlin Brigade in Germany in 1964. He went on to be General Officer Commanding 1st Division in 1968, Commandant of the Staff College, Camberley in 1970 and General Officer Commanding South East District in 1972. His last posting was as Deputy Commander-in-Chief UK Land Forces in 1973 before he retired in 1976.

Family
In 1945 Taylor married Madelaine Turpin (marriage dissolved in 1963); they had two daughters.