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 Percival Spearman Wilkinson (5 July 1865 – 4 November 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 colonel of the

Northumberland Fusiliers The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Raised in 1674 as one of three 'English' units in the Dutch Anglo-Scots Brigade, it accompanied William III to England in the November 1688 Glorious Revolution an ...

Military career

Wilkinson was commissioned into the 5th Regiment of Foot on 10 November 1883. He became Inspector General of the

Royal West African Frontier Force The West African Frontier Force (WAFF) was a multi-battalion field force, formed by the British Colonial Office in 1900 to garrison the West African colonies of Nigeria, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone and Gambia. In 1928, it received royal recognition ...

in 1909. Promoted to

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 ...

on 8 August 1912, he served as Commander of the 1st Secunderabad Infantry Brigade, part of the 9th (Secunderabad) Division, on internal security duties in India and then served as General Officer Commanding

50th (Northumbrian) Division The Northumbrian Division was an infantry division of the British Army, formed in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force with units drawn from the north-east of England, notably Northumberland, Durham and the North and East Ridings of Yorkshire ...

on the Western Front from August 1915 until February 1918 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 ...

. He returned to command 50th (Northumbrian) Division as a peacetime formation in the UK in July 1919 before he retired on 4 July 1923. In retirement he was Chief Commissioner of St. John Ambulance. He was colonel of the

from January 1915 to July 1935.

References

Sources

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, Percival 1865 births 1953 deaths British Army major generals British Army generals of World War I Royal Northumberland Fusiliers officers Royal West African Frontier Force officers Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Order of the Bath Military personnel from County Durham