Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

Henry Alleyne Lash (8 April 1901 – 13 May 1975) was an officer in the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

Life and career

Henry Lash was born in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, the son of Violet Maud (née Keely) and Reverend Nicholas Alleyne Lash. He was educated at

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated population ...

and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

. He 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 ...

onto the Unattached List of the Indian Army on 24 December 1920, joining the Indian establishment on 4 March 1921. On 7 March 1921 he was attached for his probationary year to the 3rd battalion

Worcester Regiment The Worcestershire Regiment was a line infantry regiment in the British Army, formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 29th (Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot and the 36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of Foot. The regime ...

. He joined the Indian Army and was posted to the 4th Battalion, 39th Royal Garhwal Rifles on the 7 March 1922. This unit later became the 4th Battalion,

18th Royal Garhwal Rifles The 18th Royal Garhwal Rifles was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was formed in 1922, after the Indian government decided to reform the army, moving away from single-battalion regiments to multi-battalion regiments. They were th ...

after the 1922 reforms. He was promoted to lieutenant on 24 March 1923. He saw action in

Waziristan Waziristan (Pashto and ur, , "land of the Wazir") is a mountainous region covering the former FATA agencies of North Waziristan and South Waziristan which are now districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Waziristan covers some . ...

during 1923-24 and was

Mentioned in Despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

. He transferred to the 3rd Battalion, 18th Royal Garhwal Rifles on 6 April 1925. Between 1 June 1926 and 14 October 1928 he served as an Aide-de-camp to the Governor of Madras. On 30 April 1928, Henry Lash, a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

, married Joan Mary Moore, an

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish. They have a large diaspora, which includes over 36 million American citizens and over 14 million British citizens (a quarter of the British ...

, daughter of P. L. Moore, C.I.E., I.C.S. They had four children:

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

and

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

Jennifer Lash,

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Nicholas Lash Nicholas Langrishe Alleyne Lash (6 April 1934 – 11 July 2020) was an English Roman Catholic theologian. Having served in the British Army, he trained for Holy Orders at St Mary's College, Oscott, and worked as a Catholic priest until 1975. He ...

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

Archimandrite The title archimandrite ( gr, ἀρχιμανδρίτης, archimandritēs), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot (''hegumenos'', gr, ἡγούμενος, present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") who ...

and Greek scholar Christopher (in religion Ephrem), and Devon based artist Susannah Lash. Through his daughter Jennifer, Henry Lash is the grandfather of actor

Ralph Fiennes Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes ( ; born 22 December 1962) is an English actor, film producer, and director. A Shakespeare interpreter, he excelled onstage at the Royal National Theatre before having further success at the Royal Shak ...

, actor

Joseph Fiennes Joseph Alberic Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (), known as Joseph Fiennes, is an English actor of film, stage, and television. Journalist Zoe Williams observed that "he seemed to be the go-to actor for English cultural history". Fiennes is particul ...

, film maker

Martha Fiennes Martha Maria Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes () is an English film director, writer and producer. Fiennes is best known for her film '' Onegin'' (1999), which starred her elder brother, Ralph, and her subsequent film ''Chromophobia'' (2005). Career ...

, film maker

Sophie Fiennes Sophia Victoria Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (; born 12 February 1967), better known as Sophie Fiennes, is an English film director and producer. She is the sister of actors Ralph Fiennes and Joseph Fiennes, director Martha Fiennes and composer M ...

, composer

Magnus Fiennes Magnus Hubert Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (born 21 November 1965) is an English composer, record producer and songwriter. He has worked with artists such as Shakira, Pulp, Tom Jones and Morcheeba. In 1997 he produced the million-selling All S ...

, and conservationist Jake Fiennes. Through his son Nicholas, he is grandfather to the musician

Dominic Lash Dominic Lash (born 18 January 1980 in Cambridge, England) is a Bristol based double bassist and film theorist. He was formerly a central figure in the musicians' collective Oxford Improvisers. Important long-term musical collaborators include An ...

. He was promoted to

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 ...

on 24 December 1928 and was nominated for the

Staff College, Quetta ( ''romanized'': Pir Sho Biyamooz Saadi)English: Grow old, learning Saadi ur, سیکھتے ہوئے عمر رسیدہ ہو جاؤ، سعدی , established = (as the ''Army Staff College'' in Deolali, British India) , closed ...

, in 1936, graduating in March 1938. He was promoted to

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

on 1 August 1938. He held an officiating appointment as a Deputy Assistant Adjutant General in the Adjutant General Branch, Directorate of Organisation from 6 April 1939, being advanced to a temporary Deputy Assistant Adjutant General on 1 September 1939. He served during the Second World War, and was the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, 18th Royal Garhwal Rifles by October 1942. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 6 June 1946, for his service in Burma as an acting

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 ...

. He was promoted to

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. ...

on 24 December 1946, and retired with the honorary rank of

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

on 11 March 1948. After leaving India, Henry Lash lived in Bridge End,

Churt Churt is a village and civil parish in the borough of Waverley, Surrey, Waverley in Surrey, England, about south of the town of Farnham on the A287 road towards Hindhead. A nucleated village, clustered settlement is set in areas acting as its b ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lash, Henry Alleyne Indian Army personnel of World War II British Indian Army officers Officers of the Order of the British Empire 1901 births 1975 deaths Military personnel of British India People educated at Tonbridge School Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Graduates of the Staff College, Quetta