May 13, 2025

Captain Alexander Evan Frederick Maconochie

 
 
Captain Alexander Evan Frederick Maconochie
1898-1933
Mess Dress, c. 1919

Maconochie graduated from the Cadet College at Quetta in 1916 and was gazetted to the 12th Cavalry of the Indian Army on the 5th of July. The regiment had been raised at Lahore in 1857 by Captain P.R. Hockin as the 2nd Regiment of Sikh Irregular Cavalry, becoming the 12th Bengal Cavalry in 1901, and simply the 12th Cavalry in 1903. Maconochie was made lieutenant in 1917 and acting captain in 1919 whilst commanding a squadron. During the Great War, he participated in operations in Mesopotamia (Iraq) from September of 1917 to October of 1918. Maconochie was seconded to the Madras Governor’s Body-Guard as adjutant in 1919 and advanced to captain in 1920. The 12th Cavalry was amalgamated in 1921 with the 11th King Edward's Own Lancers (Probyn's Horse) to form the 5th King Edward's Own Probyn's Horse. Maconochie left the service in 1923 and later joined the stock brokerage firm of Croft, Forbes, and Chard as senior partner. Upon the departure of Mr. Chard, the name of the firm was changed to Maconochie & Co.

March 24, 2025

Captain Francis Orlando Henry Bridgeman

  
 
Captain Francis Orlando Henry Bridgeman
1819-1895
P1821 Light Cavalry Saber

Bridgeman was the eldest son of Hon. Orlando Henry Bridgeman, the third son of Orlando Bridgeman, 1st Earl of Bradford. After being educated at the Harrow School, he purchased an ensign’s commission in the 82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales’s Volunteers) on the 28th of October, 1836. Bridgeman purchased a lieutenancy in that regiment in 1839. During this period, the regiment was posted to Gibraltar in 1837 and the West Indies in 1839. Bridgeman secured a captaincy by purchase in the 45th (Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot on the 30th of September, 1842. He exchanged into the 10th (The Prince of Wales's Own) Royal Regiment of Light Dragoons (Hussars) as a captain on the 29th of September, 1843. Bridgeman then retired from the regiment in December of 1844.

Lieutenant Celadon Charles Sutherland Brownlow

 
Lieutenant Celadon Charles Sutherland Brownlow
 1885-1948
 Dress Tunic, c. 1908
 
 Brownlow was the son of Colonel Celadon Charles Brownlow, CB, late of the Bengal Staff Corps and first cousin once removed to Field Marshal Sir Charles Henry Brownlow, GCB. Brownlow was gazetted to the Indian Army on the 24th of January in 1906. He was attached to the 20th Duke of Cambridge's Own Infantry (Brownlow's Punjabis) in March of 1907. The regiment was raised by Sir Charles Henry Brownlow as the 8th Regiment of Punjab Infantry in 1857, when then a lieutenant. In 1904 the regiment was designated as the 20th Duke of Cambridge's Own Infantry and Sir Charles Henry Brownlow was made Colonel of the Regiment. Brownlow was advanced to lieutenant on the 24th of April in 1908. He was placed on the Half-pay List in 1912 and left the service on the 1st of September 1914. Brownlow married Mary Ellen Lowes Dickinson, the granddaughter of the Victorian portrait painter Lowes Cato Dickinson in 1926. Brownlow then attended the Academie Julien in Paris in 1927 where he studied painting, emerging as a sporting and equestrian painter. He showed 141 pieces at a solo exhibition hosted by the Arlington Gallery in 1937 and exhibited at the Royal Cambrian Academy in 1942. Several of Brownlow's works are in the collections of the National Trust.
 
British and Native Officers, 1909
20th Duke of Cambridge's Own Infantry (Brownlow's Punjabis)
 
Lieut. Brownlow
 (center back row)

 
 
Charles Sutherland Brownlow
Footwork
Oil on board

December 1, 2024

Major Thomas H.C. Cox

 

Major Thomas H.C. Cox
Mess Jacket, c. 1904
 
Cox joined the 3rd Battalion of The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) as a second lieutenant on March 7, 1903. The 3rd Battalion, formed from the Perth Militia, was known as the Royal Perth Rifles until 1900. Cox was elevated to lieutenant in 1904 and made captain on February 2, 1915. From 1900 to 1908, the Third was known as the 3rd (Militia) Battalion. In 1908 they became the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion. The Third provided replacements for casualties from the 1st and 2nd (Regular) Battalions during the Great War. Cox relinquished his commission on March 10, 1934, and was granted the honorary rank of major.

 

July 18, 2024

Major John Christopher Blaxland

 
 
Major John Christopher Blaxland
1917-2003
Field Service Cap, c. 1951
 
Blaxland was gazetted to the General List as a university candidate in August of 1939 and commissioned into the Royal Engineers on the 3rd of September. He joined the staff of the Royal Engineers as an acting captain in June of 1940. On the 2nd of September that year, Blaxland was made a war substantive lieutenant and then a temporary captain in 1942. He became a war substantive captain on the 9th of May, 1945, and a temporary major the same day. Blaxland’s captaincy was made permanent in March of 1946. He transferred to the 15th/19th The King’s Royal Hussars on the 10th of May, 1950. Blaxland obtained his majority on the 3rd of March, 1951. An excellent horseman, he won both the Prix Caprilli and the Grade ‘A’ show-jumping competition in a horse show organized by the 8th Hussars in 1953. After joining the 15th/19th Hussars, Blaxland periodically served as second-in-command of the regiment and was in that role upon his retirement in 1959.

July 10, 2024

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.
 

July 7, 2024

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