Brigadier General Alexander William Pagan, DSO
1878-1949
Full Dress Uniform, c. 1931
Pagan
studied at Cheltenham College and was gazetted to the 2nd Battalion of
the Gloucestershire Regiment (formerly the 61st Regiment of Foot) on the
11th of February, 1899. He accompanied the 2nd Battalion to South
Africa in January of 1900 to fight in the Boer War and was advanced to
lieutenant that February during the Battle of Paardeberg. Pagan earned
his captaincy in September of 1906. He was attached to the 3rd (Militia)
Battalion, the Royal South Gloucestershire Militia, as adjutant in
1911. Now serving with the 1st Battalion (formerly the 28th Regiment of
Foot), Pagan was promoted to major on the 1st of September, 1915. As a
temporary lieutenant-colonel, he was awarded the Distinguished Service
Order for conspicuous good work commanding his battalion near Loos on
the 8th of October, 1915, during a heavy bombardment of 4 ½ hours,
followed by a heavy infantry assault. Pagan was made a brevet
lieutenant-colonel in January of 1917. Whilst commanding the 3rd
Infantry Brigade, he was wounded during the Second Battle of
Passchendaele on the 10th of November. Pagan was later made a temporary
brigadier general and appointed commanding officer of the 184th Infantry
Brigade in March of 1918. He was mentioned in despatches three times
during the Great War and was also awarded the Belgian Order of Leopold
and the Belgian Croix de Guerre. Pagan was placed in command of the 11th
District, Irish Command in 1919. From 1922 to 1925, he commanded the
Gloucestershire regimental depot at Bristol. On the 1st of February,
1925, Pagan received his colonelcy with seniority of the 1st of January,
1921, whilst assigned as Assistant Commandant of the Small Arms School
at Hythe. He remained there until January of 1929 and was appointed to
command the 10th Infantry Brigade that February at Jubblepore in India
with the temporary rank of brigadier. Pagan retired from the service on
the 15th of July, 1929, and was granted the honorary rank of brigadier
general. He was appointed Colonel of the Gloucestershire Regiment on the
31st of July, 1931. In November of 1936, Pagan received a Territorial
Army Reserve of Officers commission as a major and was assigned to the
8th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment. He relinquished that
commission in 1942 and continued to serve with the Home Guard.
