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 Borlase Elward Wyndham Childs (15 December 1876 – 27 November 1946) 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 also served as

Assistant Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Assistant Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, usually just Assistant Commissioner (AC), is the third highest rank in London's Metropolitan Police, ranking below Deputy Commissioner and above Deputy Assistant Commissioner. There are usually ...

from 1921 to 1928.

Military career

Childs was born in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, the son of a solicitor. He initially entered the law himself, as an

articled clerk Articled clerk is a title used in Commonwealth countries for one who is studying to be an accountant or a lawyer. In doing so, they are put under the supervision of someone already in the profession, now usually for two years, but previously thre ...

to his father. He was also a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the 2nd Volunteer Battalion of the

Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (DCLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1959. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, by the merger of the 32nd (Cornwall Light ...

. When 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 ...

broke out he volunteered for overseas service, but was turned down. He decided to volunteer for regular service instead, intending to return to the law after the war, and in 1900 was commissioned into the regular DCLI, being immediately posted to the 1st Battalion in

Dum Dum Dum Dum is a city and a municipality of Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of Kolkata urban area and also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). Etymology During the 19th ...

, India. Shortly afterwards, the battalion moved to

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

as a guard battalion for the Boer prisoner of war camp. After two years, the battalion was finally posted to South Africa, where Childs was appointed

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

and

quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In m ...

of the rest camp at

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronounc ...

. There he came to the attention of Colonel

Nevil Macready General Sir Cecil Frederick Nevil Macready, 1st Baronet, (7 May 1862 – 9 January 1946), known affectionately as Make-Ready (close to the correct pronunciation of his name), was a British Army officer. He served in senior staff appointments in ...

, then Chief Staff Officer at

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

, who appointed him garrison adjutant of Cape Town Castle. He was promoted Lieutenant in April 1904 and returned to England in 1905, where he became adjutant of his battalion. He transferred to the Royal Irish Regiment as a Captain in 1910. In February 1911 he was seconded to 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 ...

as a Staff Captain. In November 1910 he accompanied his old friend, Macready, by then Director of Personal Services, as his staff officer to

Tonypandy Tonypandy is a town, community and electoral ward located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. A former industrial coal mining town, the town was ...

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

, where rioting had broken out. In February 1912 he was promoted to the brevet rank of Major. In April 1914 he was appointed Deputy Assistant

Adjutant-General An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

at the War Office and in September 1914 he was appointed Assistant Adjutant-General with the British Expeditionary Force and promoted to the temporary rank of

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 colonel. ...

and shortly afterwards to the temporary rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

. While with the BEF, he instituted

court martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

reforms that increased the remission of death sentences for

deserter Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ...

s to 89 per cent of all those sentenced to death by military courts. In 1916 he returned to the War Office as Assistant Adjutant-General, mainly dealing with

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

s, and later the same year was appointed Director of Personal Services, in charge of Army discipline. In September 1915 he was given the substantive rank of Major in the DCLI, in 1916 he became a Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel, in 1917 a Brevet Colonel, and in 1919 a Temporary

. In 1919 he also became a Deputy Adjutant-General.

Police career

Childs was appointed Assistant Commissioner "C" (Crime) in December 1921. He retired from the Army in December 1922 with the honorary rank of Major-General. While Assistant Commissioner he attempted with some success to stamp out the illegal arms trade. He resigned from the Metropolitan Police on 6 November 1928 over the Sir

Leo Chiozza Money Sir Leo George Chiozza Money (; 13 June 1870 – 25 September 1944), born Leone Giorgio Chiozza, was an Italian-born economic theorist who moved to Britain in the 1890s, where he made his name as a politician, journalist and author. In the early ...

incident. He was appointed

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(CMG) in 1916,

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

(CB) in 1918,

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

(KCMG) in 1919, and

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(KBE) in February 1921. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift t ...

for 1932-33 when he was living in Thriplow House, Thriplow, Cambridgeshire. He died in the Stoke Newington district of London in 1946. He had married Ethel (Young) Allanson in 1925.

Works

*''Episodes and reflections: being some records from the life of Major-General Sir Wyndham Childs, K.C.M.G., K.B.E., C.B., one time second lieut., 2nd Volunteer Battalion, the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry'', Cassell, 1930 *''John Bull's Book of Pitfalls'', Pryor Publications, 1999,

Footnotes

External links

*Obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 30 November 1946 *Biography, ''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

''
Entry on Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Childs, Wyndham 1876 births 1946 deaths British Army major generals Military personnel from Cornwall People from Cornwall Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry officers Royal Irish Regiment (1684–1922) officers British Army generals of World War I Assistant Commissioners of Police of the Metropolis Companions of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire High Sheriffs of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire