Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Ralph Eastwood, KCB DSO MC

 

 

Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Ralph Eastwood, KCB DSO MC

1890-1959

Full Dress Uniform, c. 1934

 

Eastwood entered Eton College in 1904 and was accepted into the Royal Military College at Sandhurst in 1908. He was gazetted to the 1st Battalion, Rifle Brigade on the 19th of March, 1910, and advanced to lieutenant in 1911. Eastwood was assigned as Aide-de-Camp to the Governor of New Zealand, Arthur Foljambe, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, in 1912. At the onset of the Great War, Eastwood was released as A.D.C. and commissioned into the New Zealand Rifle Brigade (Earl of Liverpool's Own), becoming a captain on the 30th of December, 1914, and participating in the capture of German Samoa. In April of 1915, Eastwood’s regiment was deployed to Gallipoli, where he was awarded the Military Cross for leading a column during a night assault on the 6th-7th of August. The regiment having been transferred to France, Eastwood joined the general staff in 1917 and was subsequently made a brevet major in January of 1918. He transferred back to the British Army that October and was made a temporary lieutenant colonel, commanding the 12th Battalion, Rifle Brigade. In August of 1919, Eastwood served for a short period on the staff of Lord Rawlinson and participated in the ill-fated North Russia Intervention. During the Great War, Eastwood was mentioned in despatches seven times and awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1919. Eastwood served in staff appointments until 1927, when he returned to regimental duty with the 1st Battalion, Rifle Brigade in India with the rank of major. Eastwood returned the following year and took command of the Rifle Brigade Depot in 1931. He transferred to the King’s Royal Rifle Corps on the 5th of April, 1934, to assume command of the 2nd Battalion as lieutenant colonel, during which period the battalion was posted to Belfast. Eastwood achieved his colonelcy in July of 1936. He was made major general on the 12th of January 1938 and appointed Commandant of the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Eastwood was made commanding general of the 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division. He was then given command of the 4th Infantry Division in May of 1940 and subsequently appointed Inspector-General of the Home Guard. Eastwood was made an acting lieutenant general in November of 1940 and assumed the role of Director-General of the Home Guard. He was appointed as commanding general of the Northern Command in June of 1941. On the 5th of December, 1941, Eastwood was made a permanent lieutenant general and went on to become the Governor of Gibraltar in 1944. He retired from the service in 1947.

 

1st Duke of York's Own Skinner's Horse

 

1st Duke of York's Own Skinner's Horse

 Torin Cap, c. 1922

 

 Skinner's Horse was an irregular cavalry regiment formed in 1803 by Captain James Skinner, an Anglo-Indian officer in the East India Company's service. Nicknamed "The Yellow Boys" for their flamboyant saffron-coloured uniforms, Skinner's Horse were famous for their horsemanship and skill at arms. The regiment became the 1st Regiment of Bengal Cavalry in 1861, the 1st Regiment of Bengal Lancers in 1896, and the 1st Duke of York's Own Lancers (Skinner's Horse) in 1903.

 

 Skinner raised a second regiment of his Skinner's Horse in 1814. This regiment became the 3rd Regiment of Bengal Cavalry in 1861 and the 3rd Skinner's Horse in 1903.

 

 Upon the reduction of the Indian Army in 1922, the regiments were amalgamated to form the 1st Duke of York's Own Skinner's Horse. The regiment was mechanized in 1939 and later became part of the Indian Armoured Corps.

 

1st Duke of York's Own Skinner's Horse Full Dress, 1910

By Snaffles

Lieutenant Henry Rogers Turner

 

 

Lieutenant Henry Rogers Turner

 1910-1970

 Mess Dress, c. 1937

 

Turner studied at Radley College, located in Oxfordshire, and was gazetted to the 7th Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment on the 15th of January, 1930. The 7th Battalion was then part of the Territorial Army. He was placed on the Unattached List for the Indian Army in 1934 and joined The Central India Horse (21st King George's Own Horse) on the 1st of September that year. The regiment was raised as two irregular cavalry regiments at the outset of the Indian Mutiny of 1857, those being Mayne's Horse and Beatson's Horse. Turner was advanced to lieutenant in June of 1937 and served the regiment as quartermaster beginning in September of 1939. The regiment’s horses were replaced with armoured fighting vehicles in 1939 and the regiment later became part of the Indian Armoured Corps. During the Second World War, the regiment served as the divisional reconnaissance regiment for the 4th Indian Division and were involved in the Western Desert Campaign, the East African Campaign, the Tunisia Campaign, and the Italian Campaign. Turner served as an acting captain prior to being made a temporary captain in August of 1940. For his service, he was awarded the Military Cross on the 29th of November, 1945. After the Partition in 1947, Turner returned to England, where he resided in Hertfordshire.

Brigadier General Alexander William Pagan, DSO

 

 

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.

 

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.

Major Nigel Rutherford-Young

 

 

Major Nigel Rutherford-Young

 1942-

 Mess Dress, c. 1968

 

 Rutherford-Young joined the 1st Battalion of the London Scottish Regiment in 1961 as a private soldier. He was appointed an Officer Cadet in 1967 and gazetted to the reorganized G (London Scottish) Company, 51st Highland Volunteers on the 2nd of May, 1968. Rutherford-Young was advanced to lieutenant in 1970 and received his captaincy in 1972. He was promoted to major on the 1st of November, 1974, and assumed command of the London Scottish Company. In 1994 the 1st Battalion, 51st Highland Volunteers, of which the London Scottish Company was assigned, was redesignated as the 3rd (Volunteer) Battalion, The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment). Rutherford-Young retired from the Black Watch (Volunteers) on the 6th of January 1998.

 

Major John Darling Young, KStJ

 

 

Major John Darling Young, KStJ

 1910-1988

 Mess Dress, c. 1932

 

 John D. Young was born in Australia and educated at Eton and Oxford. He was gazetted to The Life Guards on the 3rd of September, 1932. Young was advanced to lieutenant in 1934. He was made a temporary captain in January of 1938 and detached to the Yorkshire Dragoons as an adjutant. Young’s captaincy was made permanent on the 2nd of March that year. Returned to The Life Guards, he was promoted to the rank of temporary major in December of 1942. Young retired from the service on the 27th of April, 1946, and was granted the honorary rank of major. During the Second World War, he served in the Middle East and Italy. Young’s wife inherited the Thornton Hall estate upon the death of her brother in 1944, where they resided in Young’s retirement. He was appointed High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire in 1960 and Deputy Lieutenant there in 1968. On the 3rd of May, 1969, Young was made Lord-Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire and subsequently created a Knight of St. John on the 22nd of August. He served as a magistrate on the Stony Stratford Bench from 1969 to 1974.