Brigadier-General Sir George Kynaston Cockerill, (13 August 1867 – 19 April 1957) 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 and a Conservative Party politician.

Career

Cockerill was the son of the Surgeon-General Robert William Cockerill, and his wife Clara Sandys, daughter of Major-General Charles Pooley. He joined the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) in February 1888, was promoted to 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 ...

on 26 June 1889, and served in the Hazara Expedition in 1891. From 1892 to 1895 he explored the eastern

Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Province ...

, for which he won the MacGregor Memorial medal and was a gold medallist of the

Royal United Services Institute The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI, Rusi), registered as Royal United Service Institute for Defence and Security Studies and formerly the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies, is a British defence and security think tank. ...

in India. He served with the Chitral Relief Force in 1895, on the North-West Frontier of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

from 1897 to 1898, and was promoted to captain (supernumerary) on 11 February 1899. He was 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 ...

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 ...

from 1900 to 1902, serving as deputy assistant adjutant general for communications from February 1900. For his war service, he was mentioned in despatches (dated 8 April 1902) and received the brevet promotion as major in the South African Honours list published on 26 June 1902. Following the end of the war, he received a regular commission as a captain in the 4th battalion

Royal Warwickshire Regiment The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, previously titled the 6th Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. The regiment saw service in many conflicts and wars, including the Second Boer War ...

in August 1902, and left

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

on the SS ''Norman'' two months later to join his battalion at Dublin. In 1907 he became a major in the

Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...

, and retired in 1910. In retirement he served in the

Special Reserve The Special Reserve was established on 1 April 1908 with the function of maintaining a reservoir of manpower for the British Army and training replacement drafts in times of war. Its formation was part of the military reforms implemented by Ri ...

and in April 1914 was promoted to

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

to command the 7th (Extra Reserve) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers. At the December 1910 general election he stood unsuccessfully as the Conservative candidate in the Thornbury division of

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. He was British technical delegate at the

Hague Conference The Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) is an intergovernmental organisation in the area of private international law (also known as ''conflict of laws''), that administers several international conventions, protocols and soft ...

in 1907. At the outbreak 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 ...

he mobilised the 7th Royal Fusiliers and then served in 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 ...

, first as Sub-Director of Military Operations, then as Deputy Director of Military Intelligence and Director of Special Intelligence with the rank of brigadier-general. He received many honours for his wartime work, including being made a Companion of the Order of the Bath (military division) in 1916. At the 1918 general election he was elected unopposed as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for the Reigate division of Surrey, having stood as a

Coalition Conservative The Coalition Coupon was a letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the 1918 United Kingdom general election, endorsing them as official representatives of the Coalition Government. The 1918 election took place in the heady atmosphere of victory ...

. He was returned unopposed in

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éireann, the day after Éamon de Valera ...

and in

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

, and re-elected with large majorities in

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China holds ...

and

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

. He retired from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

at the 1931 general election, having been knighted in the

King's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are prese ...

in 1926.

Publications

*Sir George Cockerill. "Pioneer Exploration in Hunza and Chitral". The Himalayan Journal. Vol. 11. 1939. 14–41.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cockerill, George Kynaston 1867 births 1957 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 Knights Bachelor Companions of the Order of the Bath Queen's Royal Regiment officers Royal Fusiliers officers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Explorers of Central Asia British Army generals of World War I Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers officers Recipients of the MacGregor Medal British Army brigadiers