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 John Samuel Jocelyn Percy, KBE, CB, CMG, DSO (9 March 1871 – 25 August 1952) 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 Inspector General of the

Royal Albanian Gendarmerie The Arm of Gendarmerie ( sq, Arma e Xhandarmërisë or Arma e Gjandarmërisë) was a gendarmerie force created after the proclamation of independence from the Ottoman Empire of Albania on 28 November 1912. History Formation of "Arm of Gendarmer ...

Percy was born in

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, the child of Edward Joscelyn Baumgartner (1815–1899), barrister and registrar of the Supreme Court of Gibraltar. The family later changed its name to Percy during the First World War, after the

House of Percy A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air co ...

to whom they were distantly related. He returned to England in 1884, and was educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter main line railway into London. Sevenoaks is from Charing Cross, the traditio ...

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 infant ...

. He was commissioned into the

East Lancashire Regiment The East Lancashire Regiment was, from 1881 to 1958, a line infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot and 59th (2nd Nottingh ...

in 1891. After service in Ireland, Percy was posted to India and served in the 1894 Waziristan campaign and the 1895

Chitral Expedition The Chitral Expedition (Urdu:چترال فوجی مہم) was a military expedition in 1895 sent by the British authorities to relieve the fort at Chitral, which was under siege after a local coup following the death of the old ruler. An interv ...

. During the Second Boer War, he served in Robert's Horse. At

Sanna's Post Sanna's Post (a.k.a. Korn Spruit) was an engagement fought during the Second Boer War (1899-1902) between the British Empire and the Boers of the two independent republics of the Orange Free State and the South African Republic. Background In e ...

in 1900, he had his horse killed under him. He was mentioned in dispatches twice and promoted to brevet major. During 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 ...

, Percy served in a number of staff positions, with the

27th 27 (twenty-seven; Roman numeral XXVII) is the natural number following 26 and preceding 28. In mathematics * Twenty-seven is a cube of 3: 3^3=3\times 3\times 3. 27 is also 23 (see tetration). There are exactly 27 straight lines on a smooth ...

, 48th, and 31st Divisions. Later, he was on the staff of the 11th Corps, the Fifth Army under General Gough, and the Second Army under General Plumer. For his wartime service, Percy was appointed CB, CMG, and DSO, mentioned in dispatches six times, was appointed a Commander of the French Order of the ''Légion d'honneur'', of the Order of Leopold of Belgium, and of the

Order of the Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the defunct Order of Michael the Brave. It is awarded by the President of Romania. It has five r ...

, and received the Belgian '' Croix de guerre'' and the Order of the Sacred Treasure of Japan.

References

* https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-75539 {{DEFAULTSORT:Percy, Jocelyn 1871 births 1952 deaths 20th-century Gibraltarian people British Army major generals British Army generals of World War I British expatriates Expatriates in Albania Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Distinguished Service Order East Lancashire Regiment officers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army personnel of the Russian Civil War British emigrants to Canada British people of Swiss descent Gibraltarian military personnel