Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Alfred Dyke Acland

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

JP (19 August 1858 – 22 March 1937) was a distinguished

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer. The son of Sir Henry Wentworth Acland by his marriage to Sarah Cotton, Acland was educated at

Temple Grove School Temple Grove School was a preparatory school (United Kingdom), preparatory school for boys, and after 1984 also for girls, originally at Parsons Green, London, later at East Sheen, London, still later at Eastbourne, and finally at Heron's Ghyll, a ...

and

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

, before being commissioned into the

Royal Devon Yeomanry The Royal Devon Yeomanry was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1920. It participated in the Second World War and now forms a squadron of the Royal Wessex Yeomanry. History Formation Following the experience of the First World Wa ...

( Territorial Army). He was promoted

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

on 10 February 1902. He reached the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

in 1910 when he took up command of the Royal Devon Yeomanry. In 1915, during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he was appointed to command the Base Depot Remounts and was decorated with the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

. In 1917, Acland became assistant director of labour and, in 1918, was appointed the labour commandant of the

Australian Corps The Australian Corps was a World War I army corps that contained all five Australian infantry divisions serving on the Western Front. It was the largest corps fielded by the British Empire in France. At its peak the Australian Corps numbered 1 ...

. He was invested as a Knight of Justice of the

Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of ...

, and as a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in 1920. He was further a

Justice of Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Botanic Society The Royal Botanic Society was a learned society founded in 1839 by James de Carle Sowerby under a royal charter to the Duke of Norfolk and others. Its purpose was to promote "botany in all its branches, and its applications." Soon after it was es ...

in November 1902. On 30 July 1885, he married Beatrice Danvers Smith, daughter of

W. H. Smith WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and ...

of the bookselling dynasty. They had six children: *Angela Cicely Mary Acland (1888–1953) *Katharine Acland (1892–1966) *Sarah Beatrice Acland (1896–1979) married

Cecil Stafford-King-Harman Sir Cecil William Francis Stafford-King-Harman, 2nd Baronet (6 December 1895–1987) was an Anglo-Irish landowner and soldier. He was born Cecil Stafford, the second son of Sir Thomas Stafford, 1st Baronet and his wife, Frances Agnes, daughter of ...

*Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur William Acland (1897–1992) * Peter Bevil Edward Acland (1902–1993)

References

1858 births 1937 deaths Alfred Dyke Military personnel from Devon Younger sons of baronets People educated at Temple Grove School British Army personnel of World War I Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Nathaniel Cotton family {{UK-army-bio-stub