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 ...

Sir Dudley Howard Ridout (15 January 1866 – 3 May 1941) was a British soldier of the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

Background

He was born in Calcutta, British India to Major Joseph Bramley Ridout and Wilmot Beresford Hayter. His father was a British soldier who served on the Bhutan expedition with the 80th Regiment 1864–5. His father had been on the staff of the Hythe School of Musketry and was the captain of cadets at the

Royal Military College of Canada '') , established = 1876 , type = Military academy , chancellor = Anita Anand ('' la, ex officio, label=none'' as Defence Minister) , principal = Harry Kowal , head_label ...

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. His grandfather Thomas Gibbs Ridout was deputy assistant commissary general during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

and a cashier of the

Bank of Canada The Bank of Canada (BoC; french: Banque du Canada) is a Crown corporation and Canada's central bank. Chartered in 1934 under the ''Bank of Canada Act'', it is responsible for formulating Canada's monetary policy,OECD. OECD Economic Surveys: Ca ...

from 1822 to 1861.

Education and career

Dudley Ridout graduated at the

and was commissioned into the

as a

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 30 June 1885.Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> He was promoted

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 1 October 1894. He served on the staff as an intelligence officer in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

during 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 ...

from 1900 to 1902, after which he was appointed in command of the 46th (Field) company stationed in South Africa and promoted to

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

on 23 November 1902. He served in

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 was transferred to Singapore Command where from 1915 to 1921 he was General Officer Commanding the Troops in the Straits Settlements and a member of the Executive and Legislative Councils there. He retired in 1924. He died in 1941 in the London borough of Richmond upon Thames and was buried in

Richmond Cemetery Richmond Cemetery is a cemetery on Lower Grove Road in Richmond in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. The cemetery opened in 1786 on a plot of land granted by an Act of Parliament the previous year. The cemetery has been expande ...

, Section 8, grave number 9479.People of Note buried in the borough

Legacy

Ridout Row, the row of two terraces of eight small four roomed cottages with an outdoor courtyard on the ground of RMC, was named in honour of Dudley Howard Ridout's father, Captain Joseph Bramley Ridout. The Ridout Row was renovated and currently houses the Canadian Defence Academy headquarters.Ridout Row

Personal life

In 1904, Ridout married Maude Elizabeth Hutton, daughter of Charles Henry Hutton. They had a son, Colonel Dudley Gethin Bramley Ridout CBE (born 1906), who commanded 1/6 South Staffordshires in Normandy 1944, and a daughter, Estelle Wilmot Hutton (born 1911).

References

Books

*4237 Dr. Adrian Preston & Peter Dennis (Edited) ''Swords and Covenants'' Rowman And Littlefield, London. Croom Helm. 1976. *H16511 Dr. Richard Arthur Preston ''To Serve Canada: A History of the Royal Military College of Canada'' 1997 Toronto,

University of Toronto Press The University of Toronto Press is a Canadian university press founded in 1901. Although it was founded in 1901, the press did not actually publish any books until 1911. The press originally printed only examination books and the university calen ...

, 1969. *H16511 Dr. Richard Arthur Preston ''Canada's RMC – A History of Royal Military College'' Second Edition 1982. *H16511 Dr. Richard Preston ''R.M.C. and Kingston: The effect of imperial and military influences on a Canadian community'' 1968. *H1877 R. Guy C. Smith (editor) ''As You Were! Ex-Cadets Remember''. In 2 Volumes. Volume I: 1876–1918. Volume II: 1919–1984. Royal Military College. ingston The R.M.C. Club of Canada. 1984. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ridout, Dudley Howard 1866 births 1941 deaths British Army major generals Military personnel of British India Royal Engineers officers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Military of Singapore under British rule British military personnel of the Tirah campaign British Army generals of World War I Royal Military College of Canada alumni Burials at Richmond Cemetery