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Torquhil Matheson

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General

Sir Torquhil Matheson

Bt., KCB, CMG
Matheson in 1917
Born(1871-02-04)4 February 1871
St George Hanover Square, London, England[1]
Died13 November 1963(1963-11-13) (aged 92)
Camberley, Surrey, England[2]
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service / branchBritish Army
Years of service1890–1935
RankGeneral
UnitBedfordshire Regiment
Coldstream Guards
CommandsWestern Command, India
54th (East Anglian) Division
7th Division
7th Guards Brigade
Guards Division
4th Division
20th (Light) Division
46th Brigade
3rd Battalion, Coldstream Guards
Battles / warsSecond Boer War
First World War
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George
Mentioned in Despatches
Croix de Guerre (France)

General Sir Torquhil George Matheson, 5th Baronet, KCB, CMG (4 February 1871 − 13 November 1963) was a Scottish officer who commanded three different divisions of the British Army in some of the heaviest fighting of the First World War. He had previously served in the militia and with the Coldstream Guards in the Second Boer War. For his service, he was knighted in 1921 and in 1944 he inherited the Matheson baronetcy from his brother Roderick.[3]

Early life and family

[edit]

Torquhil Matheson was born on 4 February 1871, the youngest child of Sir Alexander Matheson, 1st Baronet, and was educated at Eton College. He inherited the baronetcy in 1944 when his four older brothers (including the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Baronets) predeceased him and three nephews (the 3rd Baronet's only sons) were all killed in action in the First World War.

In 1900 Matheson married Ella Louisa Linton. They divorced in 1923. He then married Lady Elizabeth Mary Gertrude Lucia Sophia Keppel, the youngest child of Arnold Keppel, 8th Earl of Albemarle. They had two sons:

  • Major Sir Torquhil Alexander Matheson of Matheson, 6th Bt. (15 August 1925 – 9 April 1993)
  • Major Sir Fergus John Matheson of Matheson, 7th Bt. (22 February 1927 – 2017)

Military career

[edit]

Destined for a career in the British Armed Forces, Matheson was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the 4th (Militia) Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment (later the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment) on 15 December 1888.[4] On 2 June 1894, Matheson transferred from the Bedfordshires, in which he was then a lieutenant, to the Coldstream Guards as a second lieutenant again,[5] and was promoted lieutenant in that regiment on 1 December 1897.[6] He served in the Second Boer War, as adjutant of the 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards from 1899 until May 1902.[7] The battalion took part in the battles of Belmont (23 November 1899), Enslin, Modder River (28 November 1899) and Magersfontein (11 December 1899), and he was mentioned in despatches, and promoted to captain on 20 April 1901.[8][9]

Following the end of the war, Matheson left Cape Town in the SS Carisbrook Castle in September 1902, arriving at Southampton early the following month.[10] He was appointed regimental adjutant to the Coldstream Guards on 1 January 1903.[11]

At the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, Matheson went with his regiment to France and fought in several actions, being promoted to the brevet rank of lieutenant colonel in February 1915 and taking command of the 3rd Battalion.[12][13]

Mayor of Maubeuge presenting the Guards Division with a flag as an appreciation from the town which was taken by the division on 9 November 1918. Major General Torquhil Matheson is seen receiving the flag, 14 November 1918.

In July 1915, Matheson was advanced to the temporary rank of brigadier general[14] and placed in command of the 46th Brigade, part of the 15th (Scottish) Division. His brevet rank was advanced to colonel in January 1917,[15] and shortly afterwards was awarded the Order of Saint Stanislaus, 3rd Class.[16] He remained commanding the 46th Brigade until March 1917, when he was promoted to major general and was made general officer commanding (GOC) of the 20th (Light) Division. In August, shortly before the division was due to deploy in the Battle of Passchendaele, Matheson was severely affected by a German gas barrage that struck his headquarters, forcing him to relinquish control of the division. In September, now presumably recovered, he took over the 4th Division, remaining in this position until September 1918, when he was replaced by Major General Louis Lipsett and took charge of the Guards Division, which he led for the final months of the war until the armistice with Germany in November 1918, which ended hostilities.[13]

In January 1918, Matheson was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath[17] and the following year was awarded the Croix de Guerre[18] and appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George on relinquishing command of the Guards Division, which also saw him relinquish his temporary rank of major general and revert to brevet colonel.[19] He was, however, granted his major general's rank, now made permanent, in June.[20] In 1922, he was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath "for valuable services rendered in the Field with the Waziristan Force",[21] and commanded the 7th Guards Brigade and then the 7th Infantry Division.[13] He then became GOC of the 54th (East Anglian) Division, a Territorial Army (TA) formation, in February 1927.[22] He was promoted to lieutenant general in June 1930.[23]

He gave up this appointment in September of that year, [24] and, on 30 June 1931, Matheson was appointed to his last command, as general officer commanding-in-chief (GOC-in-C) Western Command, India.[25] On 30 June 1935 he retired from that post as a full general,[26] having been promoted to that rank in July 1934.[27] On 2 July he was gazetted to the Retired List.[28] In 1944 succeeded he to his grandfather's baronetcy on the death of his elder brother Roderick.

He himself died in November 1963, at the age of 92.[29]

References

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  1. ^ 1871 England Census
  2. ^ "Obituary: Gen. Sir Torquhil Matheson – The Army in India". The Times. 14 November 1963. p. 16.
  3. ^ Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 2645. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
  4. ^ "No. 25883". The London Gazette. 14 December 1888. p. 7141.
  5. ^ "No. 26518". The London Gazette. 1 June 1894. p. 3190.
  6. ^ "No. 26917". The London Gazette. 7 December 1897. p. 7349.
  7. ^ "No. 27454". The London Gazette. 15 July 1902. p. 4511.
  8. ^ Hart 1903, p. 221.
  9. ^ "No. 27334". The London Gazette. 16 July 1901. p. 4711.
  10. ^ "The Army in South Africa – Troops returning Home". The Times. No. 36882. London. 25 September 1902. p. 5.
  11. ^ "No. 27512". The London Gazette. 2 January 1903. p. 5.
  12. ^ "No. 29074". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 February 1915. p. 1691.
  13. ^ a b c Davies & Maddocks 2014, pp. 166–167.
  14. ^ "No. 29274". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 August 1915. p. 8486.
  15. ^ "No. 29886". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1916. pp. 15–16.
  16. ^ "No. 13053". The Edinburgh Gazette. 19 February 1917. p. 377.
  17. ^ "No. 13186". The Edinburgh Gazette. 2 January 1918. pp. 7–8.
  18. ^ "No. 31514". The London Gazette. 19 August 1919. pp. 10607–10608.
  19. ^ "No. 31258". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 March 1919. p. 4141.
  20. ^ "No. 31395". The London Gazette. 6 June 1919. p. 7421.
  21. ^ "No. 32778". The London Gazette. 19 December 1922. p. 8949.
  22. ^ "Army Commands" (PDF). Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  23. ^ "No. 33615". The London Gazette. 13 June 1930. p. 3725.
  24. ^ "No. 33644". The London Gazette. 16 September 1930. p. 5689.
  25. ^ "No. 33748". The London Gazette. 28 August 1931. p. 5626.
  26. ^ "No. 34188". The London Gazette. 9 August 1935. p. 5109.
  27. ^ "No. 34066". The London Gazette. 3 July 1934. p. 4229.
  28. ^ "No. 34176". The London Gazette. 2 July 1935. p. 4258.
  29. ^ Davies & Maddocks 2014, p. 167.

Bibliography

[edit]
Military offices
Preceded by GOC 20th (Light) Division
March–August 1917 		Succeeded by
Preceded by GOC 4th Division
1917–1918 		Succeeded by
Preceded by GOC Guards Division
1918–1919 		Post disbanded
Preceded by GOC 54th (East Anglian) Division
1927–1930 		Succeeded by
Preceded by GOC-in-C, Western Command, India
1931–1935 		Succeeded by
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Baronet
(of Lochalsh)
1944–1963 		Succeeded by
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