Brigadier Lionel Bootle-Wilbraham, 6th Baron Skelmersdale, (23 September 1896 – 21 July 1973) was a British Army officer and peer who served in both the First and Second World War.
Early life
Lionel Bootle-Wilbraham was born on 23 September 1896, the son of Major Lionel Bootle-Wilbraham,
Royal Irish Fusiliers
The Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria's) was an Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army, formed by the amalgamation of the 87th (Prince of Wales's Irish) Regiment of Foot and the 89th (Princess Victoria's) Regiment of Foot in ...
On the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, Bootle-Wilbraham joined the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment. He then entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, as a wartime cadet in 1915 and passed out the same year, being commissioned into the Coldstream Guards. He served with the regiment for the rest of the war, being awarded a Military Cross in 1917.
Postwar, Bootle-Wilbraham saw service in Turkey during the Chanak Crisis of 1922, and then went to India to serve as Aide-de-Camp to the Governor of Madras (1924–1927). He went to China during the Shanghai crisis of 1927, later returning to Madras as the Governor's Military Secretary (1929–1932). He also served in Egypt and Sudan in 1932.
Early in the Second World War, Bootle-Wilbraham commanded the 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards, in the
Battle of France
The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...
, which played an important part in holding the
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.1st Guards Brigade during the final evacuation and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.Sebag-Montefiore.
On 20 September 1940, Bootle-Wilbraham took command of the 126th Infantry Brigade, part of the
42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division
The 42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division was an infantry Division (military), division of the British Army. The division was raised in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force (TF), originally as the East Lancashire Division, and was redesignat ...
, a Territorial Army (TA) formation which had fought in France and been evacuated at Dunkirk. A year later the division was converted to armour, and Bootle-Wilbraham briefly transferred to command the 215th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home), and then to form and command a new
32nd Guards Brigade
3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...
in October 1941. This formation was part of London District, charged with guarding some of the most vital locations in the capital; later it became the infantry component of the Guards Armoured Division.
Bootle-Wilbraham attended the
Staff College, Camberley
Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which i ...
, in 1942 and was then appointed Brigadier, General Staff, in Eastern Command in 1943. In April 1945, Bootle-Wilbraham formed a new 137th Brigade headquarters to administer reception camps, selection and training battalions for wounded and temporarily unfit troops returning from overseas.
Postwar career
Bootle-Wilbraham served as a regimental
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 colone ...
of the Coldstream Guards 1946–1949, and then retired with the rank of brigadier.
After retiring from the army, Bootle-Wilbraham joined the Associated British Oil Engine Company (later Brush Export Ltd) as a director and became its representative in the Caribbean and Latin America 1949–1959.
Family
On 1 October 1936 he married Ann Quilter, daughter of Percy Cuthbert Quilter and granddaughter of
Sir Cuthbert Quilter, 1st Baronet
Sir William Cuthbert Quilter, 1st Baronet (29 January 1841 – 18 November 1911) was an English stock broker, art collector and Liberal/ Liberal Unionist politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1906.
Life
Quilter was born at ...
. She was born 19 May 1913 and died in 1974. They had four children:
* Hon. Lavinia, b 1 August 1937, married (1969) Robert Brian Noel Massey, and has issue.
* Hon. Olivia, b 31 December 1938, married (1961, divorced 1975) Anthony John Hoole Lowsley-Williams, and has issue
* Hon. Roger, later 7th Baron Skelmersdale (2 April 1945 – 31 October 2018)
* Hon. Daphne b 14 October 1946, married (1980, divorced 1992) Jocelyn Peter Gore Graham, and has issue
Lionel Bootle-Wilbraham succeeded as 6th Baron Skelmersdale in 1969 on the death of his cousin. He died on 21 July 1973 and was succeeded by his son Roger as 7th Baron Skelmersdale.
Notes
References
* ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage'', 106th Edn, London: Burke's Peerage, 1999.
*
* Hugh Sebag-Montefiore, ''Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man'', Penguin, 2007.
* ''Who was Who 1971–1980''.