Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Sir Bertram Norman Sergison-Brooke, (born Brooke; 20 July 1880 – 26 March 1967) was an Anglo-Irish senior

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 who served as Major-General commanding the Brigade of Guards and General Officer Commanding (GOC)

London District London District (LONDIST) is the name given by the British Army to the area of operations encompassing the Greater London area. It was established in 1870 as ''Home District''. History In January 1876 a ‘Mobilization Scheme for the forces in ...

Early life and education

Brooke was born in London, the fourth son of Arthur Basil Brooke and Alice Georgina Norton. He was a grandson of

Sir Arthur Brooke, 2nd Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

. The Brookes were a prominent Anglo-Irish family that had been settled in Northern Ireland since prior to the

Plantation of Ulster The Plantation of Ulster ( gle, Plandáil Uladh; Ulster-Scots: ''Plantin o Ulstèr'') was the organised colonisation (''plantation'') of Ulstera province of Irelandby people from Great Britain during the reign of King James I. Most of the sett ...

. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and passed out of 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 ...

in 1899.

Military career

Brooke was commissioned into the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

on 12 August 1899.Sir Bertram Norman Sergison-Brooke
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives He served in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

in South Africa, and was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

on 14 December 1900. Following the end of the war in June 1902 he returned with most of the men of the guards regiments on board the SS ''Lake Michigan'', which arrived in Southampton in October 1902. He then served with the Egyptian Army. He also served in 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 ...

, initially as Assistant Embarkation Officer in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and then as a

brigade major A brigade major was the chief of staff of a brigade in the British Army. They most commonly held the rank of major, although the appointment was also held by captains, and was head of the brigade's "G - Operations and Intelligence" section direct ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. By 1917 he was commanding 2nd Guards Brigade but was gassed on the Western Front. He 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 ...

seven times throughout the war. After the war he became

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of the 1st Battalion

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

and then, in 1923, went on to be

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

of the Grenadier Guards and Regimental District. He was appointed Commander of 15th Infantry Brigade in China in 1927 and then Commander of the 1st (Guards) Brigade at

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

in 1928. He was made Brigadier on the General Staff at Eastern Command in India in 1931 and Major-General commanding the Brigade of Guards and General Officer Commanding

in 1934. He retired in 1939 but, with 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 ...

underway, he was recalled as General Officer Commanding (GOC) London District. He retired again in 1942. He was

British Red Cross The British Red Cross Society is the United Kingdom body of the worldwide neutral and impartial humanitarian network the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with more ...

Commissioner with the Allied Army of Liberation from 1943 to 1945.

Personal life

In 1915, he married Prudence Ida Evelyn Sergison, daughter and co-heiress of Charles Warden Sergison of Cuckfield Park, and assumed her surname by royal licence. They had one daughter, Patience Ann (born 1916), who married Sir Edward Henry Windley. After Prudence's death in 1918, he married secondly Hilda Fenwick, in 1923. They had one son, Timothy Mark, who married Hon. Mary Anne Hare, daughter of

John Hare, 1st Viscount Blakenham John Hugh Hare, 1st Viscount Blakenham, OBE, PC, DL (22 January 1911 – 7 March 1982) was a British Conservative politician. Background and education Blakenham was the third son of The Rt. Hon. Richard Hare, 4th Earl of Listowel, an Anglo ...

. His second wife died in 1954. His home was in

Slaugham Slaugham () is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It is located to the south of Crawley, on the A23 road to Brighton. The civil parish covers an area of . At the 2001 census it had a population of 2,226 ...

in West Sussex.'Parishes: Slaugham', A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 7: The rape of Lewes (1940), pp. 181–186
Date accessed: 14 June 2010

References

Bibliography

External links

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sergison-Brooke, Bertram 1880 births 1967 deaths Burials in Gloucestershire Military personnel from London People educated at Eton College Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Grenadier Guards officers British Army lieutenant generals British Army generals of World War II British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army generals of World War I Red Cross personnel People from Slaugham