Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Arthur Verney Hammond (16 October 1892 – 15 January 1982) was a senior officer of the

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 ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Early life

Hammond was born in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, the son of Sir Arthur Hammond, a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer and recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

, and Edith Jane Wright. He was educated at

Wellington College, Berkshire Wellington College is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the village of Crowthorne, Berkshire, England. Wellington is a registered charity and currently educates roughly 1,200 pupils, between the ages of 13 and ...

, before attending the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

Military career

On 6 September 1911 he commissioned onto the Unattached List for the Indian Army, before serving for a year with the

Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army based in the county of Kent in existence from 1881 to 1961. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, originally as the Quee ...

. On 3 December 1912 he joined his Indian regiment, Queen Victoria's Own Corps of Guides. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Hammond served on the North West Frontier between 1915 and 1916, before serving with the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force in the

Mesopotamian campaign The Mesopotamian campaign was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the Allies represented by the British Empire, troops from Britain, Australia and the vast majority from British India, against the Central Powe ...

from 1917 to 1919, during which he

mentioned in despatches 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 ...

. He then served in North West Persia from 1920 to 1921, later attending the

Staff College, Quetta ( ''romanized'': Pir Sho Biyamooz Saadi)English: Grow old, learning Saadi ur, سیکھتے ہوئے عمر رسیدہ ہو جاؤ، سعدی , established = (as the ''Army Staff College'' in Deolali, British India) , closed ...

, from 1925 to 1926, before returning to India, where he became Brigade Major in 1928. In 1936 he became Commanding Officer of The Guides Cavalry, holding the position until 1938. At the beginning of the Second World War, he was working as a

staff officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

at the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

in London. In 1940 he returned to duties in India and in August 1941 Hammond became commander of the

23rd Indian Infantry Brigade The 23rd Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II from 1941 to at least 1947. The brigade was formed in February 1941, at Loralai in British Raj, India and in June 1941, assigned to the 14th ...

, seeing action in the

Japanese conquest of Burma The Japanese invasion of Burma was the opening phase of the Burma campaign in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II, which took place over four years from 1942 to 1945. During the first year of the campaign (December 1941 to mid-1942) ...

. In June 1942 the brigade was re-designated as the 123rd Indian Infantry Brigade. He led the brigade during the Burma Campaign until November 1943, when he was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

. In 1943 he made an aide-de-camp to

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...

. In June 1944 Hammond was appointed a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

and took up the position of Commander, Lucknow District, which he held until October 1945. On 20 January 1947 he retired from the army with the rank of major general.

Personal life

Hammond married firstly Mary Ellen Eaton, the daughter of Rev. Thomas Eaton, in 1919. They had two daughters, but divorced in 1946. He married secondly Edythe Boyes Cooper in 1947. In retirement he lived in Dorset, where he died in 1982.'Hammond, Arthur Verney' i
''Indian Army Officers 1939–1945''
at unithistories.com, accessed 21 August 2015

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammond, Arthur Verney 1892 births 1982 deaths Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of the Bath Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Indian Army personnel of World War I Indian Army generals of World War II People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire British people in colonial India Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment officers Graduates of the Staff College, Quetta War Office personnel in World War II Military personnel from London British Indian Army generals