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 ...

Herman James Shelley Landon, , (23 August 185916 October 1948), 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. During the

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 Sou ...

he commanded a battalion, and was promoted in the interwar period to take command of a brigade in the British Expeditionary Force. He commanded the brigade during the early fighting on the Western Front 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 ...

, and succeeded to the command of 1st Infantry Division when his commanding officer was killed at the

First Battle of Ypres The First Battle of Ypres (french: Première Bataille des Flandres; german: Erste Flandernschlacht – was a battle of the First World War, fought on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front around Ypres, in West Flanders, Belgium. Th ...

; he later commanded four more

New Army The New Armies (Traditional Chinese: 新軍, Simplified Chinese: 新军; Pinyin: Xīnjūn, Manchu: ''Ice cooha''), more fully called the Newly Created Army ( ''Xinjian Lujun''Also translated as "Newly Established Army" ()), was the modernised ar ...

divisions during the war.

Early life

Herman Landon was born in August 1859, the son of Mary Maria née Edgar (1829–1912) and James Landon (1807–1879); he had one elder sister, Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1845–1915), and a substantially older stepsister, Geraldine Amelia Leigh (1845–1940). The family was comfortably well off, living in the respectable area of

Paddington, London Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

.1861 English census. (Class: RG9; Piece: 12; Folio: 6; Page: 16; GSU roll: 542556.) James Landon was an Indian cotton merchant; though predominantly involved in growing rather than processing, he had been responsible for setting up one of the first successful

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning (textiles), spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Althou ...

s in India, at

Bharuch Bharuch (), formerly known as Broach, is a city at the mouth of the river Narmada in Gujarat in western India. Bharuch is the administrative headquarters of Bharuch District. The city of Bharuch and surroundings have been settled since tim ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, in 1854. Later in the decade he advised

Ranchhodlal Chhotalal Ranchhodlal Chhotalal, Rai Bahadur
"Memoir of Rao Bahadur Ranchhodlal Chhotalal, C.I. ...

on the development of a Ahmedabad Spinning and Weaving Company Limited, similar mill in

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

. He died in March 1879, leaving a substantial estate of eight to nine thousand pounds. Herman Landon was educated at Harrow from 1874 to 1876, leaving just before his seventeenth birthday. He later attended 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 ...

, passing out in 1879 and taking a commission in the 6th Regiment of Foot. He served in the Sudan in 1898, where he saw action at the

Battle of Atbara The Battle of Atbara also known as the Battle of the Atbara River took place during the Second Sudan War. Anglo-Egyptian forces defeated 15,000 Sudanese rebels, called Mahdists or Dervishes, on the banks of the River Atbara. The battle proved to ...

and the

Battle of Omdurman The Battle of Omdurman was fought during the Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan between a British–Egyptian expeditionary force commanded by British Commander-in-Chief (sirdar) major general Horatio Herbert Kitchener and a Sudanese army of the M ...

, and 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 ...

.Who Was Who. He returned to Africa in 1900, in the Boer War, where he took temporary command of his battalion, the 2nd

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 ...

, from March to November. For this service, he was again mentioned in despatches, as well as being given a

brevet promotion In many of the world's military establishments, a brevet ( or ) was a warrant giving a commissioned officer a higher rank title as a reward for gallantry or meritorious conduct but may not confer the authority, precedence, or pay of real rank. ...

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. ...

.''The Times'' obituary

Military career

He then was sent to

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 ...

, where he joined the 1st Battalion of the Royal Warwickshires, and in 1902 was promoted to substantive lieutenant-colonel, and given command of the battalion. He remained in command until 1906, receiving a brevet promotion to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

in 1904. From February to October 1906 he was on half-pay, and in October was appointed Inspector of Gymnasia in India. In 1907, he was promoted substantive colonel. He returned to an active command in 1910, when he was made a

Brigadier-General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

and given command of 3rd Brigade. He was awarded CB in the 1911 Coronation Honours.

First World War

The 3rd Brigade, part of 1st Infantry Division, mobilised with the British Expeditionary Force on the outbreak of the First World War, and was sent to France. Landon commanded it during the

Retreat from Mons The Great Retreat (), also known as the retreat from Mons, was the long withdrawal to the River Marne in August and September 1914 by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French Fifth Army. The Franco-British forces on the Western F ...

, the Battle of the Marne and the Battle of the Aisne, and was promoted to Major-General in October. During the

, the divisional commander, Major-General Samuel Lomax, was killed in action, and Landon took acting command. By the end of the battle in November, he himself was invalided home, and was relieved as divisional commander by Major-General David Henderson. He was formally replaced in command of his brigade by Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Butler on 13 November. On his recovery in December, he was appointed Inspector of Infantry, and early in 1915 was appointed to command the

9th (Scottish) Division The 9th (Scottish) Division, was an infantry division of the British Army during the First World War, one of the Kitchener's Army divisions raised from volunteers by Lord Kitchener to serve on the Western Front during the First World War. A ...

of the

. He accompanied it to France, but was replaced in September due to ill health, before the division saw combat at the

Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used poison gas and the first mass engagement of New Army units. Th ...

. In October he took command of the 33rd Division, this time remaining with the division when it went into combat at the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

in July 1916. In September he was appointed to command the 35th Division, remaining with it until July 1917, when his health forced him to retire from active service. From August 1917 to May 1918 he commanded the 64th Division in the Home Forces, finally retiring from the Army on 19 August 1919. During the war, he was Mentioned in Despatches three more times. After the War, he was appointed a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(CMG). He also received the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

and was appointed a Commander of the Belgian Order of Leopold.

Family

He married Christian Ethel Sharp (1876–1957) in 1903, and they had one daughter, Mary Christian Landon (1904–1968). Herman died in 1948 at the family home in Scottow, Norfolk.

Notes

Sources

References

* Obituary in ''The Times'', p. 7, 20 October 1948 * "LANDON, Major-Gen. Herman James Shelley", in * * * , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Landon, Herman 1859 births 1948 deaths Military personnel from London British Army major generals People educated at Harrow School British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army personnel of the Mahdist War Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst British Army generals of World War I Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers officers People from North Norfolk (district) Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)