Major Lionel Randolph Coleridge Sumner, MC

 

 

Major Lionel Randolph Coleridge Sumner, MC

 1893-1960

 Dress Tunic, c. 1911

 

 Sumner joined the 5th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment on the 23rd of December, 1911, as a second lieutenant. Prior to 1908, the 5th Battalion had been designated as the 2nd Volunteer Battalion. The regiment had been organized in 1859 as the 2nd Gloucestershire Rifle Volunteers and retained its rifle green uniforms until 1925. Sumner was advanced to lieutenant in 1913. He became a temporary captain on the 10th of June, 1915, which was made permanent in June of 1916. Sumner was made acting major of the 5th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment for a brief period in June of 1918 whilst serving as second in command. He was mentioned in despatches on the 16th of March, 1919, and awarded the Military Cross. In 1920 Sumner went to Nigeria to serve as an administrative officer in the Nigerian Civil Service. He was placed on the Territorial Reserve list in 1922. Sumner remained in Nigeria until retiring in 1944 as a District Commissioner. He then returned to England at Southmead.

 

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Departed the collection in 2024.