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John Longley

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Sir John Longley
Born(1867-03-07)7 March 1867
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England[1]
Died13 February 1953(1953-02-13) (aged 85)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service / branchBritish Army
Years of service1887–1920
1939–1945
RankMajor General
UnitEast Surrey Regiment
Commands1st Battalion, East Surrey Regiment
82nd Brigade
10th (Irish) Division
44th (Home Counties) Division
Battles / warsSecond Boer War
World War I
World War II
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Companion of the Order of the Bath
Mentioned in despatches (10)
Memorial plaque to Longley in All Saints Church, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey

Major General Sir John Raynsford Longley KCMG CB (7 March 1867 – 13 February 1953) was a British Army officer who reached high command during World War I.

Military career

[edit]

Educated at Cheltenham College,[2] Longley was commissioned into the 4th (Militia) Battalion, East Surrey Regiment in April 1885[3] before transferring over to the Regular Army two years later.[4]

He later served in South Africa in 1902, towards the end of the Second Boer War.[5] He was promoted to major in July 1904.[6]

In 1911 he was appointed Commanding Officer of 1st East Surreys and went to France in August 1914 at the start of World War I, fighting in the battles of Mons, Le Cateau, the Marne, the Aisne, La Bassée and Armentières.[2] In January 1915, after being promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier general,[7] he was appointed commander of the 82nd Infantry Brigade in succession to Brigadier General Lionel Stopford. In June his substantive rank was advanced from brevet colonel to colonel but with seniority dating back to December 1914.[8] The brigade formed part of the 27th Division which, towards the end of the year, was sent to the Macedonian front. In December, after being promoted to the temporary rank of major general,[9] he became the general officer commanding (GOC) of the 10th (Irish) Division,[10] which, like the 27th, was also serving in Macedonia as part of the British Salonika Army. He retained command of this division until 1919, serving in Salonika, before moving to Egypt in September 1917 where the division was part of XX Corps in its advance into Palestine.[11] He was awarded the Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in June 1918.[12]

In 1919, and with the war now over, Longley became GOC 44th (Home Counties) Division before retiring from the army in 1923.[5]

From 1920 to 1939 Longley, whose rank of major general became substantive in January 1918,[13] held the colonelcy of the East Surrey Regiment.[14] Recalled at the start of the Second World War in 1939, he was re-employed as a brigadier in the Dover Garrison.[2] He died on 13 February 1953, at the age of 86.[11] The East Surrey Regimental chapel in All Saints Church, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, has a memorial plaque to Longley and a stained glass window to the memory of both Longley and his son, killed in 1916 at the Battle of Jutland.[15]

Honours and awards

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Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) 6 June 1919[16]
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) 31 May 1918[17]
Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) 1916[11]
Grand Officer of the Order of the Nile (Egypt) 26 November 1919[18]
Commander of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (Italy) 31 August 1917[19]

References

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  1. ^ "Major-General Sir John Raynsford Longley KCMG CB". British Empire. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Major General Sir John Raynsford Longley KCMG CB 1920–39 Archived 30 December 2021 at the Wayback Machine Queen's Royal Surreys website
  3. ^ "No. 25464". The London Gazette. 24 April 1885. p. 1853.
  4. ^ "No. 25697". The London Gazette. 3 May 1887. p. 2443.
  5. ^ a b "Longley, John". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. Archived from the original on 5 February 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  6. ^ "No. 27702". The London Gazette. 5 August 1904. p. 5055.
  7. ^ "No. 29051". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 January 1915. p. 878.
  8. ^ "No. 29201". The London Gazette. 22 June 1915. p. 6024.
  9. ^ "No. 29468". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 February 1916. p. 1567.
  10. ^ Army Commands Archived 5 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ a b c Who Was Who 1951–1960. Bloomsbury Publishing, London. 1984. ISBN 0-7136-2598-8.
  12. ^ "No. 30717". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 May 1918. p. 6487.
  13. ^ "No. 30450". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 1919. p. 9.
  14. ^ "East Surrey Regiment". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 4 January 2006. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  15. ^ Memorials within the Chapels Queen's Royal Surreys website
  16. ^ No. 31395". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 June 1919. p. 7422.
  17. ^ "No. 30717". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 May 1918. p. 6487.
  18. ^ "No. 31659". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 November 1919. p. 14635.
  19. ^ "Order of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus" (PDF). London Gazette. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
Military offices
Preceded by General Officer Commanding the 10th (Irish) Division
1915–1919 		Succeeded by
New title General Officer Commanding 44th (Home Counties) Division
1919–1923 		Succeeded by
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