Major General Sir John Raynsford Longley KCMG CB (7 March 1867 – 13 February 1953) was a British Army officer who reached high command during World War I.
Sir John Longley | |
|---|---|
| Born | 7 March 1867 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England[1] |
| Died | 13 February 1953 (aged 85) |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1887–1920 1939–1945 |
| Rank | Major General |
| Unit | East Surrey Regiment |
| Commands | 1st Battalion, East Surrey Regiment 82nd Brigade 10th (Irish) Division 44th (Home Counties) Division |
| Battles / wars | Second Boer War World War I World War II |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Companion of the Order of the Bath Mentioned in despatches (10) |
Military career
editEducated at Cheltenham College,[2] Longley was commissioned into the 4th (Militia) Battalion, East Surrey Regiment in April 1885[3] before transferring over to the Regular Army two years later.[4]
He later served in South Africa in 1902, towards the end of the Second Boer War.[5]
In 1911 he was appointed Commanding Officer of 1st East Surreys and went to France in August 1914 at the start of World War I, fighting in the battles of Mons, Le Cateau, the Marne, the Aisne, La Bassée and Armentières.[2] In early 1915, after being promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier general,[6] he was appointed commander of the 27th Division's 82nd Infantry Brigade and in December 1915, after being promoted to the temporary rank of major general,[7] he became the general officer commanding (GOC) of the 10th (Irish) Division.[8] He retained command of this division until 1919, serving in Salonika, before moving to Egypt in September 1917 where the division was part of XX Corps in its advance into Palestine.[9]
In 1919, and with the war now over, Longley became GOC 44th (Home Counties) Division before retiring from the army in 1923.[5]
From 1920 to 1939 Longley, whose rank of major general became substantive in January 1918,[10] held the colonelcy of the East Surrey Regiment.[11] Recalled at the start of the Second World War in 1939, he was re-employed as a brigadier in the Dover Garrison.[2] He died on 13 February 1953, at the age of 86.[9] The East Surrey Regimental chapel in All Saints Church, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, has a memorial plaque to Longley and a stained glass window to the memory of both Longley and his son, killed in 1916 at the Battle of Jutland.[12]
Honours and awards
edit| Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) | 1919[13] | |
| Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) | 1918[14] | |
| Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) | 1916[9] | |
| Grand Officer of the Order of the Nile (Egypt) | 1919[15] |
References
edit- ^ "Major-General Sir John Raynsford Longley KCMG CB". British Empire. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
- ^ a b c Major General Sir John Raynsford Longley KCMG CB 1920–39 Queen's Royal Surreys website
- ^ "No. 25464". The London Gazette. 24 April 1885. p. 1853.
- ^ "No. 25697". The London Gazette. 3 May 1887. p. 2443.
- ^ a b "Longley, John". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. Archived from the original on 5 February 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
- ^ "No. 29051". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 January 1915. p. 878.
- ^ "No. 29468". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 February 1916. p. 1567.
- ^ Army Commands Archived 5 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c Who Was Who 1951–1960. Bloomsbury Publishing, London. 1984. ISBN 0-7136-2598-8.
- ^ "No. 30450". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 1919. p. 9.
- ^ "East Surrey Regiment". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 4 January 2006. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
- ^ Memorials within the Chapels Queen's Royal Surreys website
- ^ No. 31395". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 June 1919. p. 7422.
- ^ "No. 30717". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 May 1918. p. 6487.
- ^ "No. 31659". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 November 1919. p. 14635.