General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Sir Percy Pollexfen de Blaquiere Radcliffe (9 February 1874 – 9 February 1934) 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 reached high office in the 1930s.

Military career

Canadian Corps Staff Officers being presented to the King

Percy Radcliffe was commissioned into the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1893. He saw service with 'G' Battery,

Royal Horse Artillery The Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) was formed in 1793 as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery (commonly termed Royal Artillery) to provide horse artillery support to the cavalry units of the British Army. (Although the cavalry link ...

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 ...

between 1899 and 1900, and was mentioned in dispatches, and was promoted to captain in 1900 and then to major in 1910. He saw active service during

World War I 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 ...

on the Western Front, and was made lieutenant colonel in 1916 and a brevet colonel the following year. He was mentioned in dispatches six times during World War I. When William Robertson was replaced as CIGS in early 1918 by

Sir Henry Wilson Field Marshal Sir Henry Hughes Wilson, 1st Baronet, (5 May 1864 – 22 June 1922) was one of the most senior British Army staff officers of the First World War and was briefly an Irish unionist politician. Wilson served as Commandant of the St ...

, Radcliffe was appointed Director of Military Operations 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 ...

. He replaced Major-General Frederick Maurice. Radcliffe continued as DMO from 1918 until 1922. He was appointed General Officer Commanding 48th (South Midland) Division in 1923, General Officer Commanding 4th Division in 1926 and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of

Scottish Command Scottish Command or Army Headquarters Scotland (from 1972) is a command of the British Army. History Early history Great Britain was divided into military districts on the outbreak of war with France in 1793. The Scottish District was comman ...

in 1930. His final appointment was as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Southern Command from 1933 until his death, when he fell from a horse and had a heart attack, on his sixtieth birthday, in 1934.

Personal life

He was born on 9 February 1874. His parents were W. Pollexfen Radcliffe and Isabel de Blaquiere. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

and the Royal Military Academy. He married twice - first to Rahmeh Theodora Swinburne in 1918 and then to Florence Alice Coromandel Tagg in 1932.The Peerage.com
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Works

* ''Tactical Employment of Field Artillery'' (which he translated from the French). * ''Report on the Franco-British Mission to Poland, July, August 1920''

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Radcliffe, Percy 1874 births 1934 deaths Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army generals of World War I Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Distinguished Service Order British Army generals