Major-General Sir Oliver Stewart Wood Nugent, KCB, DSO (9 November 1860[2] – 31 May 1926) was a British Army officer known for his command of the 36th (Ulster) Division during the First World War and particularly at the Battle of the Somme.
Sir Oliver Stewart Wood Nugent KCB DSO | |
|---|---|
| Born | 9 November 1860 Aldershot, Hampshire, England[1] |
| Died | 31 May 1926 (aged 65) |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service |  British Army |
| Years of service | 1882−1920 |
| Rank | Major-General |
| Unit | Royal Munster Fusiliers King's Royal Rifle Corps |
| Commands | 41st Brigade 36th (Ulster) Division Meerut Division |
| Battles / wars | Chitral Expedition Hazara Expedition of 1888 Second Boer War First World War * Battle of the Somme |
| Awards | |
Military career
editHe was the son of Major General St George Nugent and Emily, daughter of the Right Honourable Edward Litton, who was a senior Irish judge and MP for Coleraine at Westminster.[2]
Nugent was educated at Harrow and Sandhurst before joining the British Army when he was commissioned into the Royal Munster Fusiliers as a lieutenant on 29 July 1882.[3][4] Transferring in April 1883 to the King's Royal Rifle Corps (KRRC),[5] he was promoted to captain on 15 October 1890[6] and served in the Hazara, Miranzai (where he was mentioned in dispatches) and Chitral expeditions, being mentioned in dispatches again and being awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).[7] He attended the Staff College, Camberley from 1897 to 1898.[8] Promoted to major on 21 October 1899,[9][10] he then served in the Second Boer War[11] where he was wounded and taken prisoner at the battle of Talana Hill.[12][13]
After his return to the United Kingdom he was, in October 1902, appointed deputy assistant quartermaster general to the 3rd Army Corps,[14] stationed in Ireland.[15]
The First World War saw Nugent, promoted to temporary brigadier general in August 1914,[16] serving in England until 1915 when he was appointed to command the 41st Brigade, part of the 14th (Light) Division, on the Western Front.[17]
In September 1915, after promotion to temporary major general,[18] he was appointed to command the 36th (Ulster) Division, "one of the most distinctive New Army formations", in the words of his biographer,[19] with which he served until May 1918, when Major General Clifford Coffin replaced him.[20] He was promoted to the permanent rank of major-general 1 January 1916.[21][22]
In common with several other divisions, Nugent deployed his leading battalions into no man's land fifteen minutes before Zero Hour on the first day of the Battle of the Somme in July 1916. This allowed his soldiers to gain an advantage and capture their first objective, the Schwaben Redoubt. However, the failure of the divisions either side to get forward caused the attack to falter, and eventually the 36th Division withdrew in some disorder.[23] He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the New Year Honours 1917.[24]
He commanded the Meerut Division in India from August 1918[21][25] to 1920, and retired in 1920 to the family estate in Farren Connell, County Cavan,[2] where he died from pneumonia on 31 May 1926.[26][27] He was knighted in the New Year Honours 1922.[28] Nugent's portrait by William Conor is in Belfast City Hall.
References
edit- ^ Nugent 2007, p. 1.
- ^ a b c "Major General Sir Oliver Nugent, by Dr Ian Adamson OBE". Impala Publishers Blog Page. 8 August 2011. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
- ^ Nugent 2007, p. 5.
- ^ "No. 25132". The London Gazette. 29 July 1882. p. 3516.
- ^ Nugent 2007, p. 7.
- ^ "No. 26126". The London Gazette. 20 January 1891. p. 361.
- ^ Quarterly Army List for quarter ending 31 December 1917 – part 2 War Services
- ^ Nugent 2007, pp. 25–26.
- ^ "No. 27129". The London Gazette. 24 October 1899. p. 6386.
- ^ Nugent 2007, p. 34.
- ^ Nugent 2007, pp. 26–29.
- ^ Hart′s Army list, 1903
- ^ Nugent 2007, pp. 30–32.
- ^ "No. 27487". The London Gazette. 24 October 1902. p. 6738.
- ^ Nugent 2007, pp. 34–35.
- ^ "No. 28875". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 August 1914. p. 6581.
- ^ Nugent 2007, pp. 55–80.
- ^ "No. 29330". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 October 1915. p. 10234.
- ^ Nugent 2007, p. 81.
- ^ Nugent 2007, pp. 256–257.
- ^ a b January 1919 Indian Army List
- ^ "No. 29438". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 January 1916. p. 568.
- ^ Edmonds, Sir James E. (1932). Military Operations: France and Belgium, 1916. London: HMSO. pp. 403–406. ISBN 0-89839-185-7.
- ^ "No. 29886". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1916. p. 2.
- ^ Nugent 2007, p. 258.
- ^ "Major-General Sir Oliver Nugent". The Times. No. 44287. 2 June 1926. p. 16.
- ^ Nugent 2007, p. 279.
- ^ "No. 32563". The London Gazette. 30 December 1921. p. 10712.
Bibliography
edit- Nugent, Oliver (2007). Major-General Oliver Nugent and the Ulster Division 1915−1918. Sutton Pub. ISBN 978-0750948807.
- Perry, Nicholas (2020). Major-General Oliver Nugent: The Irishman who led the Ulster Division in the Great War. Ulster Historical Foundation. ISBN 978-1909556829.
External links
edit- Somme hero's 'lost' medals go on display, The Newsletter
- Somme hero's 'lost' medals go on display, Ulster Gazette
- Art UK Nugent's portrait in Belfast City Hall
- . . Dublin: Alexander Thom and Son Ltd. 1923. p. – via Wikisource.