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 ...

Cuthbert Henry Tindall Lucas, (1 March 1879 – 7 April 1956) was 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 who commanded the 4th Division during the final months of

World War I 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 ...

, and also 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 South ...

and the Irish War of Independence, during which he was captured by the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief th ...

(IRA).

Early life

Lucas was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, on 1 March 1879. He later attended Marlborough College and 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 infant ...

Military career

Lucas was commissioned as a second lieutenant into 2nd Battalion, the

Royal Berkshire Regiment The Royal Berkshire Regiment (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was created in 1881, as the Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire Regiment), b ...

, on 7 May 1898.Cuthbert Lucas
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives He served with the battalion in South Africa during the

from 1899 to 1902, taking part in operations in the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...

from February to July 1900, in

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

from July to November 1900, and later in

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with t ...

south of

Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north ...

. He 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 ...

on 1 August 1900, while in South Africa.Hart's Army list, 1903 After the end of the war in June 1902, Lucas and the rest of the 2nd battalion was sent to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, where they arrived on the SS ''Dominion'' in November 1902. He later served in the Egyptian Army and Sudan Civil Service. He served in

with the British Expeditionary Force and fought at Gallipoli in 1915 where he was promoted to command the 87th Brigade of the 29th Division. He led the brigade during the Battle of the Somme and into 1917 before becoming Commandant of the Machine Gun Corps Training Centre in 1918. He was appointed General Officer Commanding 4th Division in October 1918 during the closing stages of the War. On 30 June 1919, Lucas was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Hertfordshire. He was made Commander of 17th Infantry Brigade in Ireland, and of

Fermoy Barracks Fermoy Barracks ( ga, Dún Mainistir Fhear Maí) was a military installation in Fermoy, County Cork. History The East Barracks were designed and built by Abraham Hargrave on a site provided by John Anderson between 1801 and 1806. In June 1808 ...

, on 30 October 1919, and on 26 June 1920, during the Irish War of Independence, he was captured by the

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

while he was fishing on the

Munster Blackwater The Blackwater or Munster Blackwater ( ga, An Abhainn Mhór, The Great River) is a river which flows through counties Kerry, Cork, and Waterford in Ireland. It rises in the Mullaghareirk Mountains in County Kerry and then flows in an easterly ...

near

Fermoy Fermoy () is a town on the River Blackwater in east County Cork, Ireland. As of the 2016 census, the town and environs had a population of approximately 6,500 people. It is located in the barony of Condons and Clangibbon, and is in the Dá ...

along with Colonels Tyrell and Danford. After Danford was wounded during an unsuccessful attempt to escape from a moving car the same day, the volunteers freed Tyrell to attend to Danford's wounds. Both Colonels were subsequently taken to a military hospital at Fermoy. General Lucas was subsequently held in West Limerick and East Clare. A letter from his wife, announcing the birth of their child, and addressed simply "to the IRA", was delivered to him and his captors allowed a subsequent exchange of letters between the couple. His letters home remain in the possession of his descendants and were shown on an episode of the BBC Television programme ''

Antiques Roadshow ''Antiques Roadshow'' is a British television programme broadcast by the BBC in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom (and occasionally in other countries) to appraise antiques brought in by local people ( ...

''. The IRA moved him to East Limerick from where Lucas escaped four weeks later. It is believed his captors purposely relaxed the guard to allow him to escape rather than be faced with the possibility of executing him. While being transferred from Pallas RIC barracks to Tipperary military barracks in a routine army patrol they were ambushed and Lucas received a slight injury. In 2014 Barbara Scully, a granddaughter of one of the IRA volunteers involved, George Power, published his recollections to his family of the kidnap in the Irish Times. This brought a friendly reply from General Lucas' granddaughter, Ruth Wheeler, in which she stated that General Lucas risked a court martial for stating that during his kidnap and time in captivity he was treated as “a gentleman by gentlemen” and was held by “delightful people". Ireland's

Defence Forces The phrase Defence Force(s) (or Defense Force(s) in US English - see spelling differences) is in the title of the armed forces of certain countries and territories. Defence forces * Ambazonia Defence Forces *Artsakh Defence Army * Australian Defen ...

have published online

Bureau of Military History The Bureau of Military History in Ireland was established in January 1947 by Oscar Traynor TD, Minister for Defence and former Captain in the Irish Volunteers. The rationale for the establishment of the Bureau was to give individuals who played ...

witness statements by the IRA volunteers involved in the kidnap, as well as those who guarded General Lucas while he was held as a prisoner of war. In 2020 Lucas' granddaughter, Ruth Wheeler, and other members of the Lucas family published the letters he wrote and received while in captivity online. Limerick Councillor Emmett O'Brien and other local people in March 2019 announced an intent to re-enact the capture, imprisonment, and release of General Lucas on the anniversary in 2020. Lucas became Assistant Adjutant General at Aldershot Command in 1924 and served with the staff at General Headquarters,

British Army of the Rhine There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. Both formations had areas of responsibility located ...

from 1927 before he retired to Stevenage in 1932. He died on 7 April 1956 and is buried in Graveley, Hertfordshire.

Family

He married Joan Holdsworth in October 1917, who died on 6 September 1979 and is also buried in Graveley, Hertfordshire.

References

External links

Letters from Captivity, family website with General Lucas' letters and other information on his time as a prisoner of war of the IRA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Cuthbert 1879 births 1958 deaths Burials in Hertfordshire British Army generals of World War I Royal Berkshire Regiment officers Companions of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Distinguished Service Order British military personnel of the Irish War of Independence Deputy Lieutenants of Hertfordshire People educated at Marlborough College Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Military personnel from Hertfordshire British Army major generals