General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Sir James Handyside Marshall-Cornwall (27 May 1887 – 25 December 1985) was a 20th Century British Army soldier and military historian.

Education

Cornwall went to Rugby School and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. Commissioned into the Royal Field Artillery in 1907, during his first spell of annual leave he travelled to Germany to study German. He later passed the Civil Service Commission examination as a first-class German interpreter, the first of the eleven interpreterships he was to gain. He passed as first-class interpreter in French, Norwegian, Swedish, Hollander Dutch, and Italian.

Military career

On the outbreak of

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 ...

Cornwall joined the Intelligence Corps at

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

. In 1915 he was appointed to the rank of Captain at 2nd Corps Headquarters in the Second Army. In 1916 he was promoted to temporary Major at the General Headquarters of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), under Sir Douglas Haig. In 1918, Cornwall was posted 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 head of the MI3 section of the military intelligence directorate, where he remained until the armistice. He was decorated with the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

in 1915, 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 ...

and the French ''Legion d'Honneur'', both in 1917, the Belgian ''Ordre de la Couronne'' and ''Croix de Guerre'' in 1918 and the American Distinguished Service Medal in 1919. In 1919, after attending the first postwar course at the Staff College, Camberley, Cornwall was sent to the peace conference in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he worked with Reginald Leeper and Harold Nicolson on the new boundaries of Europe. Several jobs in the Middle East in the 1920s gave him the opportunity to study the Turkish and modern Greek languages. In 1927 he was sent to China with 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 ...

( Shanghai Defence Force), to protect British life and property in the

Shanghai International Settlement The Shanghai International Settlement () originated from the 1863 merger of the British Concession (Shanghai), British and American Concession (Shanghai), American list of former foreign enclaves in China, enclaves in Shanghai, in which Brit ...

. This enabled him to acquire Mandarin and to travel extensively in the

Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...

with his wife. From 1928 to 1932 he held the post of military attaché in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

.Generals.dk
/ref> In 1934, after two years as commander of the 51st Highland division, Royal Artillery, based at

Perth, Scotland Perth (; ) is a centrally located Cities of Scotland, Scottish city, on the banks of the River Tay. It is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and is the historic county town of Perthshire. It had a population of about ...

, Marshall-Cornwall was promoted the rank of Major-General. He spent the next four years travelling in Europe, India, and the United States, then two years in Cairo as head of the British military mission to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. Here he qualified as an interpreter in colloquial Arabic. In 1938, he was promoted to Lieutenant-General, in charge of the air defences of Great Britain. In May 1940 he went to France to help evacuate British troops from Cherbourg, commanding an ad hoc formation dubbed Norman Force, boarding the last ship to leave the port. He took over command of III Corps in England in June 1940 holding the post until November 1940. In April 1941 he became General Officer Commanding the British Troops in Egypt. Later that year he was sent by

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

to Turkey in an attempt to persuade the Turks to enter the war on the Allied side, a mission which failed. Marshall-Cornwall took over Western Command in November 1941, but was dismissed in the Autumn 1942 for going outside the proper channels to secure the safety of the Liverpool docks. He spent the rest of the war with the

Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...

and MI6, attempting to promote better relations between them. He retired from the army in 1943.

Post military life

Between 1948 and 1951, he was editor-in-chief of the German archives at the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

captured by the British Army in 1945, and wrote military history. He was president of the Royal Geographical Society (1954–8).

Death

Marshall-Cornwall died, aged 98, on Christmas Day 1985.

Personal life

Cornwall met Marjorie Coralie Scott Owen, who was driving an ambulance for a Red Cross mission to White Russian refugees, while encamped in the Izmit peninsula. They were married in Wales in April 1921. In 1927 he inherited a small estate in Scotland from his uncle William Marshall, on condition that he should assume the surname of Marshall. As Marshall was one of his forenames, this was achieved by the insertion of a hyphen. The Marshall-Cornwalls had a son and two daughters. Their elder daughter died aged fourteen in 1938 after an operation for appendicitis in Switzerland. Their son was killed in France in 1944. He is buried on the spot where he fell, in an orchard near Cahaignes, Normandy. After the war, the landowner presented the site of the grave to the casualty's father, who in turn, requested that the grave remain undisturbed. His other daughter, Janet, married Michael Willoughby, 12th Baron Middleton on 14 October 1947.

Publications

* ''Geographic Disarmament: A Study of Regional Demilitarisation'' (1935). * ''Marshal Massena'' (1965). * ''Napoleon as Military Commander'' (1967). * ''Grant as Military Commander'' (1970). * ''Foch as Military Commander'' (1972). * ''Haig as Military Commander'' (1973). * ''History of the Geographical Club'' (1976). * ''A Memoir: Wars & Rumours of Wars'' (1984) (autobiography).

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

British Military History Biographies M
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall-Cornwall, James 1887 births 1985 deaths British Army generals of World War II British Army personnel of World War I Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Presidents of the Royal Geographical Society Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Intelligence Corps officers Interpreters Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath People educated at Rugby School Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Artillery officers British Special Operations Executive personnel Fellows of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society 20th-century translators British military attachés British expatriates in China