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 Thomas Sheridan Riddell-Webster (12 February 1886 – 27 May 1974) was

Quartermaster-General to the Forces The Quartermaster-General to the Forces (QMG) is a senior general in the British Army. The post has become symbolic: the Ministry of Defence organisation charts since 2011 have not used the term "Quartermaster-General to the Forces"; they simply ...

during the Second World War.

Military career

Educated at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

and the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Sig ...

, Riddell-Webster was commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

into the

Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) was a rifle regiment of the British Army, the only regiment of rifles amongst the Scottish regiments of infantry. It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 26th Cameronian Reg ...

on 16 August 1905.Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> He was promoted to lieutenant on 30 September 1909 and to captain on 24 October 1913. He served in

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 ...

initially as a staff captain (appointed 3 November 1914) then as deputy assistant adjutant and quartermaster general in France (17 July 1915). He was brevetted to major on 1 January 1916. On 9 July 1917, he was appointed assistant adjutant and quartermaster general in France and Italy, with the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel. After the war, Riddell-Webster relinquished his temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel on 1 April 1919. He was promoted to the substantive rank of major and the brevet rank of lieutenant-colonel on 3 June 1919. He became a Brigade Major with Irish Command on 21 July 1921. He was appointed Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General at the Staff College in 1922, and was brevetted to lieutenant-colonel on 12 March 1923. After attending the Staff College, Camberley from 1924 to 1925, he was appointed as a

General Staff Officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

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 1926. In 1930 he was made

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of 2nd Bn Cameronians, and promoted to substantive lieutenant-colonel on 16 December of that year. He was promoted to colonel on 27 June 1933, became Assistant Quartermaster General 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 ...

that year and became

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

Poona (Independent) Brigade Area in 1935. Riddell-Webster was promoted to major-general on 1 April 1938, becoming the Director of Movements and Quartering at the

. He also served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, initially as Deputy Quartermaster General at the

(from 29 August 1939) and then as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command, India in March 1941. He received the local rank of lieutenant-general on 7 January 1941, and was promoted to the substantive rank on 15 April. He was made

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

in charge of Administration in the Middle East in 1941. He became

in 1942: he had a key role in establishing a ground supply route to China from

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

through

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

: the rehabilitation of occupied and liberated territories was a key issue at the time. He was promoted to full general on 1 November 1942. He also extended the use of

collar Collar may refer to: Human neckwear *Clerical collar (informally ''dog collar''), a distinctive collar used by the clergy of some Christian religious denominations *Collar (clothing), the part of a garment that fastens around or frames the neck ...

s and ties to the uniforms of other ranks. He retired on 27 April 1946, after nearly 41 years of service. In 1946 he was given the colonelcy of the Cameronians, a position he held until 1951.

Honours

Riddell-Webster was awarded the DSO on 18 February 1915. On 12 September 1918, he was decorated as an Officer of the

Order of the Crown of Italy The Order of the Crown of Italy ( it, Ordine della Corona d'Italia, italic=no or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for civi ...

. He was awarded the French Croix de Guerre on 19 June 1919. He was appointed a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

, Military Division (CB) in the

1939 Birthday Honours The King's Birthday Honours 1939 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate the of ...

, knighted as a Knight Commander (KCB) in the 1942 New Year Honours and promoted to Knight Grand Cross (GCB) in the

1946 New Year Honours The 1946 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth Realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and to celebrate the passing of 1945 and the beginnin ...

. He was decorated as a Commander of the US

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

on 14 May 1948.

References

Bibliography

External links

Generals of World War II
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Riddell-Webster, Thomas 1886 births 1974 deaths People educated at Harrow School British Army generals of World War II Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Cameronians officers British Army personnel of World War I War Office personnel in World War II Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies Academics of the Staff College, Camberley