Liberation Of Europe: British Second Army Commander Named - General Eisenhower and General Dempsey ride in the back of a jeep. Lieutenant General M.C. Dempsey, C.B., D.S.O., M.C., was named as Commander of the British Second Army on June 28th. 47 years old he was a Lieutenant Colonel at the outbreak of war and as acting brigadier commanded an infantry brigade in the campaign in France and Belgium. In June 1941 he became an acting Major General at the head of an armoured Division, and in December 1942 an acting Lieutenant General to take over an Army Corps then hurrying westward through Libya in Pursuit of Rommel from El Alamein. He commanded the famous 13th Corps in the 8th Army through North Africa, Sicily and Italy, returning to Britain in January when he had been selected to lead the British 2nd Army in he Liberation of Europe. June 1, 1944. (Photo by British Official Photograph).