Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Kennedy Rawlins (15 May 1866 – 16 November 1943) was a

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

officer. Rawlins was the son of Major-General James Sebastian Rawlins, a senior officer of the Indian Staff Corps, and Emma Augusta Wilmot Parke. Born in Dharamshala, India, he was educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College. He was commissioned into the 3rd Battalion, the Welsh Regiment, as a Second Lieutenant 11 April, 1888. He was promoted Lieutenant 22 June 1889. He obtained a regular commission, as a Second Lieutenant, into the

East Surrey Regiment The East Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot, the 70th ...

on 21 December 1889 from the Militia, but transferred to the Indian Staff Corps in 1892. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 19 May 1892. Rawlins fought in the North-West Frontier between 1897 - 1898, notably being involved in the Tirah Campaign with the 11th Regiment of Punjab Infantry, later the

24th Punjabis The 24th Punjabis were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1857, as the 11th Regiment of Punjab Infantry. It was designated as the 24th Punjabis in 1861 and became 4th Battalion 14th Punjab Regiment in 1922. In 1947, i ...

and on 20 May 1898 was made a Companion of Distinguished Service Order. He served in China in 1900. He was deployed in the Somaliland Campaign between 1903 and 1904 and saw action at Jidballi and was

Mentioned in Dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

in the London Gazette 2 September 1904. He was promoted Major on 21 December 1907. He was promoted Lieut-Colonel 22 December 1915. He served with Imperial Service Troops, commanding the Bikaner Camel Corps, throughout the First World War. He was

in the London Gazette four times during the war. Rawlins later served in Salonika and the

Russian Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

, being promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and taking command of the regiment. On 6 January 1919 he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, having already been made a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire in recognition of his services with the Indian Army on the 25 August 1916.''The London Gazette'' (6 January 1919) https://www.thegazette.co.uk/Edinburgh/issue/13379/page/86/data.pdf Following his retirement from the Army, Rawlins moved to England and lived at Weston-super-Mare, where he was a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

. He died unmarried in 1943. Rawlins was the great-uncle of

Kenneth Spring Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom), Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Arthur Spring (23 October 1921 – 25 December 1997) was a British Army officer, artist and co-founder of the National Youth Theatre, National Youth Theatre of Great Britain. Ear ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rawlins, Arthur 1866 births 1943 deaths People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College Indian Staff Corps officers British Army personnel of World War I British Indian Army officers Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order British people in colonial India