Major General Cecil Percival Heywood, (17 May 1880 – 20 October 1936) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer who commanded 3rd Division.

Military career

Born the second son of Sir Arthur Heywood, 3rd Baronet, Heywood was commissioned into the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

as a second-lieutenant on 12 August 1899. He fought in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

,Cecil Percival Heywood
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives leaving

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

on the SS ''Canada'' in early February 1900. Following the war, he became

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

of the 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards in 1904 before undertaking a tour with the

Egyptian Army The Egyptian Army (), officially the Egyptian Ground Forces (), is the land warfare branch (and largest service branch) of the Egyptian Armed Forces. Until the declaration of the Republic and the abolishment of the monarchy on 18 June 1953, it w ...

which involved him in operations in Southern

Kurdufan Kordofan ( ') is a former province of central Sudan. In 1994 it was divided into three new federal states: North Kordofan, South Kordofan and West Kordofan. In August 2005, West Kordofan State was abolished and its territory divided between Nor ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

in 1908. In June 1910 he was seconded for service on the staff and appointed an aide-de-camp to Major General Sir Henry Rawlinson, who had just taken command of the 3rd Division. He served in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, initially as a

brigade major A brigade major was the chief of staff of a brigade in the British Army. They most commonly held the rank of major, although the appointment was also held by captains, and was head of the brigade's "G - Operations and Intelligence" section direct ...

before becoming a general staff officer, grade 2 in May 1915. He was later a General Staff Officer before becoming Commander of 3rd Guards Brigade in 1918. He was wounded by shellfire in the war's final days. In the following year he served as a staff officer in the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

. He was appointed Commander of the Coldstream Guards and Regimental District in 1927, Director of Military Training in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in 1930 and Director of Staff Duties at the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

in 1934. He was briefly

General Officer Commanding General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (and some other nations, such as Ireland) to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC ...

3rd Division in 1936 before retiring. He is buried in All Saint's Churchyard at Denstone in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

Family

In 1917 he married Margaret Vere Kerr; they had a son and a daughter.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heywood, Cecil 1880 births 1936 deaths British Army personnel of the Russian Civil War Burials in Staffordshire British Army major generals Coldstream Guards officers Companions of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Cecil People from the Borough of East Staffordshire Younger sons of baronets British Army generals of World War I Military personnel from Derbyshire People from Duffield British Army personnel of the Second Boer War