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 ...

Charles John Sackville-West, 4th Baron Sackville, (10 August 1870 – 8 May 1962) 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 ...

general and peer who served throughout 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 ...

and reached the rank of

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 ...

. In 1919, he was British Military Representative on the Supreme War Council and from 1920 to 1924 he was military attaché in Paris. He inherited his title on 28 January 1928 on the death of his brother,

Lionel Edward Sackville-West, 3rd Baron Sackville Lionel Edward Sackville-West, 3rd Baron Sackville (15 May 1867 – 28 January 1928), was a British Peerages in the United Kingdom, peer. Sackville-West was the son of the Honourable William Edward Sackville-West, sixth son of George Sackville-West ...

. He served as

Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey The Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey is the representative of the British monarch in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a Crown dependency of the British Crown. The role of the Lieutenant Governor is to act as the ''de facto'' head of state in Guernsey ...

Early life and career

Sackville-West was born in 1870, the second son of Colonel the Hon. William Edward Sackville-West and Georgina Dodwell. His father was the youngest son of the 5th

Earl De La Warr Earl De La Warr ( ) is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1761 for John West, 7th Baron De La Warr. The Earl holds the subsidiary titles of Viscount Cantelupe (1761) in the Peerage of Great Britain, Baron De La Warr ( ...

and a younger brother of the 1st and 2nd Barons Sackville. As the younger son of a younger son of an earl, Sackville-West was not entitled to any particular style from birth, though his elder brother succeeded to the title of Lord Sackville in 1908. On 14 June 1910, however, he and his siblings were granted the style of ''Honourable'' by royal decree, to "henceforth have hold and enjoy the same title, rank, place and precedence as would have been due to them if their father, William Edward Sackville-West had survived his brother, the said Lionel Sackville, Baron Sackville, and had thereby succeeded to the title and dignity of Baron Sackville." Sackville-West was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

, Hampshire, followed by 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 ...

. On 18 December 1889, Sackville-West was commissioned into the King's Royal Rifle Corps as a second lieutenant and participated in the 1891 Anglo-Manipur War (for which he was mentioned in dispatches) and the 1892 expedition to

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. He was promoted to lieutenant on 4 November 1891, and appointed an adjutant on 1 May 1894. By the mid-1890s, Sackville-West was serving as a staff officer in a number of posts. He was promoted to supernumerary captain on 27 January 1898, and on 9 October was seconded to the staff and appointed an aide-de-camp to General

Sir Redvers Buller General (United Kingdom), General Sir Redvers Henry Buller, (7 December 1839 – 2 June 1908) was a British Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to Bri ...

, later a prominent commander 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 ...

. For his services during the war, Sackville-West received a brevet promotion to major on 29 November 1900, and was also mentioned in dispatches. Following the war, Sackville-West was appointed Aide-de-camp to Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Hildyard, Commanding the 1st Army Corps. He was advanced to substantive captain in January 1903, and was appointed a staff captain in January 1905. He was promoted to major on 2 August 1905. In 1906, Sackville-West was attached to the Staff College, Camberley, receiving an appointment as a deputy assistant adjutant-general with the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel on 21 December. He was appointed a GSO 2 for the London District on 27 November 1909. He was transferred to 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 the same grade on 1 October 1910, receiving promotions to brevet lieutenant-colonel and then to substantive lieutenant-colonel on 1 April 1914.

First World War

At the outbreak of the

, Sackville-West was at the War Office. He was appointed a GSO 1 on 16 January 1915. However, the need for experienced officers in the field prompted his movement to the Indian Army Corps on the Western Front until 3 December 1915, when he was given command of the 21st Infantry Brigade and promoted to brigadier-general. On 30 July 1916, at the height of the Battle of the Somme, Sackville-West was wounded in an attack by a German bomber on his brigade headquarters. Evacuated to Britain, he had recovered by October, when he took over the 190th Infantry Brigade. Within days of this posting, however, Sackville-West was wounded in the jaw when a high-explosive shell detonated in the midst of his command group as he inspected the trenches in front of Hamel. Although wounded, dazed and partially buried, Sackville-West was able to reach the casualty clearing station unaided, and was again evacuated to Britain to recover.P.189, ''Bloody Red Tabs'', Davies & Maddocks Returning to the Western Front for the third time in March 1917, Sackville-West commanded the 182nd Infantry Brigade from 11 March until 18 November, when he was appointed brigadier-general on the General Staff, serving as chief of staff to

Sir Henry Wilson Field Marshal Sir Henry Hughes Wilson, 1st Baronet, (5 May 1864 – 22 June 1922) was one of the most senior British Army staff officers of the First World War and was briefly an Irish unionist politician. Wilson served as Commandant of the S ...

on the Supreme War Council. On 19 February 1918 Wilson became

Chief of the Imperial General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) has been the title of the professional head of the British Army since 1964. The CGS is a member of both the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Army Board. Prior to 1964, the title was Chief of the Imperial G ...

at the War Office, and Sackville-West succeeded him as British Military Representative at Versailles. He was promoted to the substantive rank of colonel on 1 April 1918, with seniority from 12 February 1916, and to

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 ...

on 1 January 1919, with temporary rank backdated to 18 November 1917. Sackville-West received several decorations during his wartime service. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (CMG) on 18 February 1915, and was knighted as a Knight Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(KBE) in the 1919 Birthday Honours on 3 June 1919. He was also decorated as a Commander of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

of France in 1918 and as a Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown of Italy in 1919. In 1921, he was decorated with the Italian Cross of War, followed by the Cross of War of France.

Later career

From 15 January 1920 until 15 January 1924, Sackville-West was military attaché in Paris. From 1 July 1925 to his retirement on 5 June 1929 he served as

Family

Sackville-West married Maude Cecilia Bell in 1897, with whom he had one son and one daughter. In 1924 he married for a second time, to Mrs Anne Meredith Bigelow. In 1928, on the death of his elder brother Lionel Sackville-West, Charles inherited his uncle's title of

Baron Sackville Baron Sackville, of Knole in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1876 for the Honourable Mortimer Sackville-West, with remainder, failing heirs male of his body, to his younger brothers the Hon. ...

and sat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

until his death in 1962. His son Edward inherited the title and later became a noted author.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sackville, Charles Sackville-West, 4th Baron 1870 births 1962 deaths People educated at Winchester College Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst King's Royal Rifle Corps officers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army generals of World War I Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Charles Sackville-West, 04 Baron Sackville Charles Academics of the Staff College, Camberley