Major General Sir John Ponsonby, KCB, CMG, DSO (25 March 1866 – 26 March 1952) was a British Army officer who commanded the 5th Division during the last year of the First World War.
Sir John Ponsonby | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 25 March 1866 Windsor, Berkshire, England[1] |
| Died | 26 March 1952 (aged 86) Haile, Cumbria, England |
| Buried | Haile Parish Church, Haile, Cumbria, England[1] |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1888–1928 |
| Rank | Major General |
| Unit | Coldstream Guards |
| Commands | Madras District 5th Division 40th Division 2nd Guards Brigade |
| Battles / wars | Second Boer War First World War |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George Distinguished Service Order Mentioned in Despatches |
Military career
editBorn the son of Sir Henry Ponsonby and educated at Eton College, Ponsonby was commissioned as a lieutenant into the 3rd (Militia) Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters in March 1886.[2] After transferring to the Royal Irish Rifles (later the Royal Ulster Rifles) in November 1887,[3] he was transferred into the Coldstream Guards, and the Regular Army, in August 1888.[4][5]
He served in Uganda from 1898 and was seconded for service in the Second Boer War in South Africa in March 1900, and attached to the Rhodesian Field Force.[6] By now a captain, having been promoted to that rank in July 1901,[7] he was again sent to South Africa in February 1902.[8][5]
Ponsonby fought in the First World War, initially, after receiving a promotion to the temporary rank of brigadier general in August 1915,[9] as commander of the 2nd Guards Brigade, part of the Guards Division, and then, after being promoted to temporary major general in September 1917,[10] as general officer commanding (GOC) 40th Division, leading his division at the Battle of Cambrai later that year.[11] His permanent rank was advanced to colonel in November 1917.[12] In July 1918 he went on to become GOC 5th Division, remaining in that role until the end of the war.[11] He had been appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George earlier in the war, in February 1915.[13]
After the war Ponsonby, whose rank of major general was made permanent in January 1919,[14] became GOC Madras District of India.[11] He retired from the army in 1926.[15]
Family
editIn 1935 Ponsonby married Mary (Mollie) Robley; they had no children.[11] He lived at Haile Hall near Beckermet in Cumbria.[11]
References
edit- ^ a b "Major General Sir John Ponsonby (1866-1952) -..." www.findagrave.com.
- ^ "No. 25571". The London Gazette. 23 March 1886. p. 1414.
- ^ "No. 25758". The London Gazette. 15 November 1887. p. 6066.
- ^ "No. 25846". The London Gazette. 14 August 1888. p. 4367.
- ^ a b Armorial families: a directory of gentlemen of coat-armour (Volume 2) by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, p. 132.
- ^ "The War – The Rhodesian Field Force". The Times. No. 36091. London. 16 March 1900. p. 6.
- ^ "No. 27335". The London Gazette. 19 July 1901. p. 4781.
- ^ "No. 27413". The London Gazette. 4 March 1902. p. 1538.
- ^ "No. 29307". The London Gazette. 24 September 1915. p. 9436.
- ^ "No. 30325". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 October 1917. p. 10352.
- ^ a b c d e The Times, 20 May 2004.
- ^ "No. 30382". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 November 1917. p. 11796.
- ^ "No. 29074". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 February 1915. p. 1691.
- ^ "No. 31092". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1918. p. 13.
- ^ "Army Commands" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2019.