Colonel Harold Carmichael Wylly, CB (18 January 1858 – 3 September 1932) 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 ...

colonel and military historian.

Life

Wylly was born in

Meerut Meerut (, IAST: ''Meraṭh'') is a city in Meerut district of the western part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city lies northeast of the national capital New Delhi, within the National Capital Region and west of the state capital ...

in the

North West Province North West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mahikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre of Gauteng and south of Botswana. History North West was incorporated after the end of Apartheid in 1994, an ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, the son of E. M. Wylly, a judge in the High Court of Agra. He was educated at Henley Grammar School,

Wimbledon School Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

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 infantry a ...

, before embarking on a career as an army officer when he was commissioned 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 11 September 1878, serving first with the

95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot The 95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot was a British Army infantry regiment, raised in 1823. Under the Childers Reforms, it amalgamated with the 45th (Nottinghamshire) (Sherwood Foresters) Regiment of Foot to form the Sherwood Foresters in 188 ...

, which in 1881 was merged into the

Sherwood Foresters The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for just under 90 years, from 1881 to 1970. In 1970, the regiment was amalgamated with the Worcestershire Regiment to f ...

, as the 2nd battalion (Derbyshire Regiment). He served in the

Anglo-Egyptian War The British conquest of Egypt (1882), also known as Anglo-Egyptian War (), occurred in 1882 between Egyptian and Sudanese forces under Ahmed ‘Urabi and the United Kingdom. It ended a nationalist uprising against the Khedive Tewfik Pasha. It ...

in 1882, was promoted to

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 May 1884, served in the Sikkim Expedition in 1888, was 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 26 May 1893, and served in the

Tirah Campaign The Tirah campaign, often referred to in contemporary British accounts as the Tirah expedition, was an Indian frontier campaign from September 1897 to April 1898. Tirah is a mountainous tract of country in what was formally known as Federally ...

1897–98. In February 1900 he joined his battalion when it transferred to

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. Following the outbreak of 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 ...

, the 1st battalion of his regiment had embarked for

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 ...

in November 1899. Leaving his own battalion at Malta, Wylly transferred to South Africa where he 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 colonel. ...

in command of the 1st battalion from 11 February 1900. For services during the war, he was

mentioned in despatches 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 ...

(dated 8 April 1902), and appointed a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

(CB) in the South Africa honours list published on 26 June 1902. The battalion stayed in South Africa until after the war, then transferred on the SS ''Wakool'' to a new posting at

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

in September 1902. From 1907 Wylly published works on military topics, including in 1908 a biography of Sir

Joseph Thackwell Lieutenant-General Sir Joseph Thackwell (1 February 1781 – 8 April 1859) was a British Army officer. He served with the 15th Hussars in the Peninsular War at the Battle of Sahagún in 1808 and the Battle of Vitoria in 1813, and he lost his le ...

. In 1913, in the buildup to the First World War, Wylly became editor of ''

RUSI Journal The ''RUSI Journal'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering international security and defence strategy. It was established in 1857 as the ''Royal United Services Institution Journal'', obtaining its current title in 1972. The journal is pu ...

'', the journal 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. ...

, a position he held until 1923. Many of his later works dealt with the First World War. In 1929 he was awarded the

Chesney Gold Medal The Chesney Gold Medal is an award given by the Royal United Services Institute awarded to "any especially eminent work calculated to advance the military sciences and knowledge". List of Medallists The following people have received the Chesney ...

, the highest award of the Royal United Services Institute.

Works

* Davis, John, and H. C. Wylly (1895) ''The History of the Second, Queen's Royal Regiment, Now the Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment: From 1715 to 1799''. (R.Bentley & son). * * * * * * * * * * * ''Neill's 'Blue Caps'' Vol I & II 1826-1914 * ''History of the Queen's Royal Regiment'', Gale & Polden 1925.

References

* * British military historians 1858 births 1932 deaths British Indian Army officers People from Meerut Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst British Army personnel of the Anglo-Egyptian War Sherwood Foresters officers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British magazine editors Academic journal editors Companions of the Order of the Bath British military personnel of the Sikkim expedition Military personnel of British India {{British-Army-bio-stub