Major General Gervase Thorpe, (10 August 1877 – 4 October 1962) was a senior officer in the

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 ...

Early life

Gervase Thorpe was born on 10 August 1877, the fifth son of Colonel James Thorpe (1823–1902) of Coddington Hall in

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

and of Ardbrecknish in

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of western Scotland. The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and most of the area ...

shire, by his second wife, Annie (died 1929), eldest daughter of John MacDougall, of Lunga in Argyllshire. In 1917, he married Margaret, daughter of James Burt-Marshall, of

Luncarty Luncarty (; pronounced ''Lung''-cur-tay ) is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, approximately north of Perth. It lies between the A9 to the west, and the River Tay to the east. Etymology The name ''Luncarty'', recorded in 1250 as ''Lump ...

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

."Thorpe, Major-General Gervase"
''Who Was Who'' (online edition), April 2014 (Oxford University Press). Retrieved 8 March 2016. They had two sons: Ian (killed in action in 1944) and Ivor Lawrence (died 1958).

Military career

Following schooling at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

, Thorpe was commissioned into the

on 8 September 1897 as a second lieutenant in the

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's) is a light infantry company (military unit), company (designated as Balaklava Company, 5th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland) and was a line infantry regiment of the British Army tha ...

. He was promoted to the rank of

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 16 July 1899 and 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 ...

; wounded, he received the Queen's and

King's South Africa Medal The King's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to all British and Colonial military personnel who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa, and who were in the theatre on or after 1 January 1902 and who had completed 18 m ...

s with clasps for service at the battles of

Modder River The Modder River is a river in South Africa. It is a tributary of the Riet River that forms part of the border between the Northern Cape and the Free State provinces. The river's banks were the scenes of heavy fighting in the beginning of the ...

and Pandaardeberg, and in

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

and South Africa (1901 and 1902). On 15 October 1901, he was posted as a Station Staff Officer.
The Half-Yearly Army List: January 1939
', 1939 (London: His Majesty's Stationery Office), p. 36 Promoted 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 ...

in October 1904, Thorpe served in France during 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 deputy assistant quartermaster general (August and September 1914) and then as an aide-de-camp to a divisional commander until October 1914. He served as an adjutant between November 1914 and February 1915, after which he was 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 ...

until September of that year. On 1 September 1915, he was promoted to the rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

and on 9 September was posted as a

general staff officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

(GSO) of the 2nd Division; he was moved to the

46th (North Midland) Division The 46th (North Midland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, part of the Territorial Force, that saw service in the First World War. At the outbreak of the war in 1914, the 46th Division was commanded by Major-General Hon. ...

as its general staff officer, grade 1 in June 1916, taking over from Archibald Fraser Home, and being made a temporary lieutenant colonel while in this position. Promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel on 1 January 1917, Thorpe remained as a GSO until 7 June 1918, when he became a brigade commander with the temporary rank of brigadier general. He relinquished that position on 1 September 1919, became a temporary lieutenant colonel in the 3rd Battalion of the

Royal Highlanders The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

(May to August 1919) and took a promotion as brevet

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), 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 colon ...

on 3 June 1919, which became substantive on 31 August the following year. A posting to 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 ...

as Assistant Adjutant General in January 1920 lasted until 25 April 1923. On that day, Thorpe was appointed a brigade commander in the Second Command, a post he held until 16 November 1925 when he was transferred of the Rhine Army as a staff officer. He left that role at the end of October 1927 to become commander of the 3rd Infantry Brigade in the

Aldershot Command Aldershot Command was a Home Command of the British Army. History After the success of the Chobham Manoeuvres of 1853, reformers of the British Army decided to create a permanent training camp at Aldershot. To begin the preliminary work a smal ...

. In May 1931, he moved again, this time to be Deputy Adjutant General in India and on 1 March 1931 he was promoted to major general and was placed on

half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the E ...

in June. In June 1935, he became General Officer Commanding of the

53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division The 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought in both the First and Second World Wars. Originally raised in 1908 as the Welsh Division, part of the Territorial Force (TF), the division saw servic ...

(one of the divisional commands at Western Command), and between 1937 and 1945 he was Colonel of his regiment. Having retired in 1939, Thorpe was brought back into employment in 1940 and served as commandant of the Cherbourg Base."Maj.-Gen. G. Thorpe", ''Times'' (London), 6 October 1962, p. 12 Thorpe was appointed a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...

in 1931, 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 I ...

in 1918 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 ...

with a

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

during the First World War, when he was also

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 ...

eight times. He died on 4 October 1962.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorpe, Gervase 1877 births 1962 deaths Military personnel from Argyll and Bute Companions of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Scottish generals British Army major generals British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Companions of the Distinguished Service Order People educated at Eton College British Army generals of World War I Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders officers British Army generals of World War II