Colin Muir Barber Sir Colin Muir Barber , KBE , CB , DSO and bar ( Birkenhead 27 June 1897 – 5 May 1964 ) , was a British General who commanded the 15th ( Scottish ) Division during their actions across north west Europe in World War II . Barber was reputed to be the tallest officer in the British Army ( at ) and thus earned the ironic nickname , " Tiny " . Private life . Barber was educated at Uppingham School . He was married twice , first , in 1929 , to Mary Edith Nixon . The couple had a son and a daughter ; Mary died in 1949 . His second wife was Mrs Anthony Milburn . Military career . Colin Muir Barber was mobilised in 1916 and served with the Liverpool Scottish in France and Belgium . In March 1918 , he was commissioned into the 1st Battalion , Cameron Highlanders , continuing to serve in France and Belgium until the end of World War I . Between 1919 and 1939 , Barber served in India . He was mentioned in despatches in 1925 for service in Waziristan and he attended the Staff College in Quetta in 1929 ( from where he graduated with distinction ) . On his return to Britain , he had several staff appointments , mainly within the British Army ' s Scottish Command . In 1936 , after a brief posting to Palestine , he was appointed to the General Staff as a GSO2 . In 1940 , he was with 51st ( Highland ) Division of the British Expeditionary Force ( BEF ) in France , winning his first DSO and mentioned in despatches . From March , 1941 Barber returned to the General Staff as a GSO1 , until taking command , in October , of the 46th ( Highland ) Infantry Brigade . From August , 1944 Barber , as an acting Major - General , commanded the 15th ( Scottish ) Infantry Division for the remainder of the campaign in north - west Europe . In this campaign , the 15th Division had the distinction to lead the three great river crossings of the Seine , the Rhine and the Elbe and Barber was awarded the bar to his DSO . Barbour commanded Highland District ( Scottish Command ) between 1946 and 1949 when he became Director of Infantry & Military Training , War Office . Barber was promoted to Lieutenant - General on 27 February 1952 and made General Officer Commanding - in - Chief of Scottish Command and Governor of Edinburgh Castle . He retired on 28 March 1955 . Colin Muir Barber died on 5 May 1964 . A memorial service was held at Canongate Kirk ( The Kirk of Holyroodhouse ) on 22 May 1964 . There is a memorial plaque for Lieutenant General Sir Colin Muir Barber , as a commander in the 15th Scottish Infantry Division that liberated Tourville in June 1944 . Barber Lyashchenko Agreement . On 13 November 1945 Barber and the Soviet major - general ( ) signed the ( , also Gadebusch Agreement ) in Gadebusch , redeploying some municipalities along the northern border between the Soviet and British zone of Allied - occupied Germany . Thus some eastern suburbs of Ratzeburg , such as Ziethen in Lauenburg , Mechow , Bäk and Römnitz became part of the Duchy of Lauenburg District ( British zone ) , while the Lauenburgian municipalities of Dechow , Groß and Klein Thurow ( now component parts of Roggendorf ) as well as Lassahn ( now a component part of Zarrentin am Schaalsee ) were ceded to the adjacent Mecklenburgian district ( Soviet zone ) . The redeployment was accomplished on 26 November , the respective occupational forces had to withdraw until 28 November to their new zonal territory . The British occupational forces provided all the inhabitants of villages to be ceded to the Soviet zone to be evacuated , if they wished so , including all their chattels by vehicles provided by the British forces . All displaced people ( usually formerly forced labourers under the prior Nazi rule ) in these villages and other eventual foreigners - except of Soviet citizens among them - were obligatorily to be relocated , while Soviet displaced people would have to stay . Honours and awards . Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire 1952 < br > Companion of the Order of the Bath ( Military Division ) 5 July 1945 < br > Distinguished Service Order 11 July 1940 , 19 October 1944 < br > Mentioned in Despatches 13 March 1925 , 20 December 1940 , 22 March 1945 , 10 May 1945 , 8 November 1945 < br > Commander of the Order of the Crown ( Belgium ) 9 October 1945