Cyril Nelson Barclay CBE DSO | |
|---|---|
.JPG) Brigadier C. N. Barclay, pictured here in 1942. | |
| Born | 20 January 1896 Dartford, Kent, England |
| Died | 30 January 1979 (aged 83) London, England |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |  British Army |
| Years of service | 1915−1946 |
| Rank | Brigadier |
| Service number | 11785 |
| Unit | Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) |
| Commands | 2nd Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) 156th Infantry Brigade |
| Battles/wars | World War I Third Anglo-Afghan War World War II |
| Awards | Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order |
| Alma mater | Thanet College, Kent |
| Signature |  |
Brigadier Cyril Nelson Barclay CBE DSO (20 January 1896 – 30 January 1979) was a British soldier, editor, and author. He served with the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) in two World Wars, rising to the rank of brigadier, and after retiring from the army in 1946 was editor of The Army Quarterly and Defence Journal from 1950 to 1966, co-editor of Brassey's Annual: The Armed Forces Year Book from 1950 to 1969, and contributed articles to encyclopedias and periodicals.
He wrote a number of regimental and unit histories and other non-fiction books on military subjects such as The New Warfare (1953) which dealt with the emerging Cold War, which he predicted would continue for many years, and addressed topics such as proxy warfare between the eastern and western power blocs.
Reviewers approved of his careful judgements and even-handed approach such as in his account of British military leadership in the early years of the Second World War, On their Shoulders (1964), which used an insider's view to explain some of the possible causes of early British failures. His last books, Battle 1066 (1966) about the Battle of Hastings, and Armistice 1918 (1968) about the end of the First World War, were workmanlike military history books published on the anniversaries of those events.