Major-General Alexander Anderson McHardy, 9 November 1868 – 11 November 1958) 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 and Scout.

Career

McHardy was the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Alexander Burness McHardy and Elsie Norrie Anderson. He was married to Lilian Amy McHardy in 1904. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

on 17 February 1888, and promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 17 February 1891. Serving in the campaign on the North West Frontier of India in 1897–98, he was with the

Malakand Field Force The siege of Malakand was the 26 July – 2 August 1897 siege of the British garrison in the Malakand region of colonial British India's North West Frontier Province.Nevill p. 232 The British faced a force of Pashtun tribesmen whose tribal la ...

and was present in the engagement at Landakai and in the operations in Bajaur and in the Mamund Country; then with the

Buner Buner District (, ) is a district in the Malakand Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Before receiving the status of a district in 1991, it was a tehsil within Swat District. Buner's elevation starts at 1200 ft in the S ...

Field Force including the capture of the Tanga pass; for which he received the medal with clasp. Promotion to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

followed on 17 August 1898. He served 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 ...

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 ...

1899–1900 as a Divisional Signalling Officer 5th Infantry Division, and was later appointed Deputy Assistant Adjutant General for intelligence for South Africa. He was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

(including the final despatch by Lord Kitchener dated 23 June 1902), and received the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

(DSO) for his service. Following the end of the war in South Africa, he returned to the Royal Garrison Artillery in July 1902. McHardy was the first

Colony Commissioner Chief Commissioner ( Chinese: 香港總監), usually abbreviated as CC, is an administrative head of The Scout Association of Hong Kong appointed by Hong Kong Chief Scout. It was formerly known as Colony Commissioner. The first commissioner, Ale ...

of the Boy Scout Association, Hong Kong Branch in 1914 and 1915. He then went to France and participated in

World War I 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 ...

. He was made a Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

(CMG) in June 1916.

Honours and awards

*Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(CB) London Gazette 1 January 1918 page 2 King's New Year's Honours List for Distinguished service in France. *Companion of the

(CMG) London Gazette 3 June 1916 page 5559 King's Birthday Honours List for Distinguished Service in France. *

(DSO) for Distinguished Services in South Africa. * Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) London Gazette 9 January 1946 page 298 (“Lt General Alexander Anderson McHardy, CB, CMG, DSO, lately Air Raid Precautions Area Sub Controller, Norfolk”.) ;Mentioned in Despatches *London Gazette 8 February 1901 page 978 (South Africa) *London Gazette 8 February 1901 page 381 (South Africa) *London Gazette 29 July 1902 page 4840 (South Africa) *London Gazette 22 February 1915 page 5978 (French, France) *London Gazette 15 June 1916 page 5921 (Haig, France) *London Gazette 4 January 1917 page 199 (Haig, France) *London Gazette 15 May 1917 page 4750 (Haig, France) *London Gazette 11 December 1917 page 12917 (Haig, France) *London Gazette 20 December 1918 page 14931 (Haig, France) *London Gazette 5 July 1919 page 8496 (Haig, France) ;Foreign Decorations *Belgium Order of Leopold 4th Class London Gazette 7 February 1921 page 1037 *France Croix De Guerre London Gazette 7 June 1919 page 7398 *France Order of Agricultural Merit Commander London Gazette 7 October 1919 page 12408

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McHardy, Alexander Anderson 1868 births 1958 deaths Scouting pioneers Royal Artillery officers British Army major generals Companions of the Distinguished Service Order British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army personnel of World War I Scouting and Guiding in Hong Kong Companions of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Members of the Order of the British Empire British military personnel of the Malakand Frontier War