Major-General Harry Lionel Pritchard, (16 November 1871 – 14 May 1953) 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 served as General Officer Commanding Malaya Command from 1929 to 1931.

Military career

Pritchard was the son of Colonel Hurlock Pritchard, of

Camberley Camberley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately south-west of Central London. The town is in the far west of the county, close to the borders of Hampshire and Berkshire. Once part of Windsor Forest, Cambe ...

, and was educated at

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

. He was commissioned into 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 ...

in 1891.Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> He took part in the Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War in 1895 and was then transferred to the

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 Mediter ...

ian Army in 1896, taking part in the

Siege of Khartoum The Siege of Khartoum (also known as the Battle of Khartoum or Fall of Khartoum) occurred from 13 March 1884 to 26 January 1885. Sudanese Mahdist forces captured the city of Khartoum from its Egyptian garrison, thereby gaining control over the ...

the following year. He was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

for service in the

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

. Pritchard 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 Sout ...

in 1899 and then became a Deputy Assistant Director at 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 1904. He was appointed Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General in India in 1907. Pritchard served in 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 ...

, initially in France and Belgium and then in Egypt. He was made Chief Engineer for Middle East Forces in 1916, and was severely wounded in 1917.Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals and Militaria
Spink Auction, 28 April 2005. After the war, he was appointed Chief Engineer at Northern Command in 1921 and then Assistant Director for Fortifications and Works at the War Office in 1923. In 1926, he was appointed Chief Engineer for Eastern Command and, in 1929, he became General Officer Commanding Malaya Command. His final appointment was as Commandant of the Royal School of Military Engineering at

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

in 1931; he retired in 1933.

Family

Pritchard married Elizabeth Gilbert Furse, daughter of E. Furse, of Alphington,

Frimley Frimley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately southwest of central London. The town is of Saxon origin, although it is not listed in Domesday Book of 1086. Train services to Frimley (on the line betwe ...

, at the parish church, Frimley, on 3 September 1902.

Bibliography

''A. R. P. and high explosive'' by Harry Lionel Pritchard, 1938, Duckworth

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Pritchard, Harry 1871 births People educated at Charterhouse School 1953 deaths British Army personnel of World War I Royal Engineers 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 Army major generals British military personnel of the Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War British Army personnel of the Mahdist War