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 Percy Pollexfen de Blaquiere Radcliffe, (9 February 1874 – 9 February 1934) 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 reached high office in the 1930s.

Early life

Radcliffe was born on 9 February 1874. His parents were W. Pollexfen Radcliffe and Isabel de Blaquiere. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and the Royal Military Academy.

Military career

Radcliffe was commissioned into 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 ...

in 1893. He saw service with 'G' Battery,

Royal Horse Artillery The Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) was formed in 1793 as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery (commonly termed Royal Artillery) to provide horse artillery support to the cavalry units of the British Army. Although the cavalry link rem ...

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 ...

between 1899 and 1900, was

mentioned in dispatches 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 ...

, and was promoted to captain in 1900 and then, in January 1906, succeeded Neill Malcolm as a staff captain 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 ...

. Promoted to major in October 1910, in October 1911 he was made a general staff officer, grade 2, taking over from Lieutenant Colonel

Hugh Bruce Williams Major General Sir Hugh Bruce Williams, (1865–1942) was a British Army officer. Military career Hugh Bruce Williams was born in 1865, the son of a general in the British Army. He was educated at Winchester College, followed by the Royal Milita ...

. He saw active service 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 ...

on the Western Front, and was appointed a general staff officer, grade 1 in July 1915. He was made a brevet lieutenant colonel in June 1915, lieutenant colonel in 1916 and a brevet colonel the following year. He was mentioned in dispatches six times during the war. When William Robertson was replaced as

Chief of the Imperial General Staff Chief of the General Staff (CGS) has been the title of the professional head of the British Army since 1964. The CGS is a member of both the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Army Board; he is also the Chair of the Executive Committee of the A ...

in early 1918 by

Sir Henry Wilson Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Sir Henry Hughes Wilson, 1st Baronet, (5 May 1864 – 22 June 1922) was one of the most senior British Army staff officers of the First World War and was briefly an Unionism in Ireland, Irish unio ...

, Radcliffe, promoted in June 1918 to substantive major general, was appointed director of military operations at the

. He replaced Major General Frederick Maurice. Radcliffe continued in the role until 1922. He was appointed

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 ...

48th (South Midland) Division The 48th (South Midland) Division was an infantry Division (military), division of the British Army. Part of the Territorial Force (TF) and raised in 1908, the division was originally called the South Midland Division, and was redesignated as th ...

in 1923, General Officer Commanding

4th Division In military terms, 4th Division may refer to: Infantry divisions *4th (Quetta) Division, British Indian Army * 4th Alpine Division Cuneense, Italy * 4th Blackshirt Division (3 January), Italy *4th Canadian Division *4th Division (Australia) * 4th ...

in 1926 and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of

Scottish Command Scottish Command or Army Headquarters Scotland (from 1972) is a Command (military formation), command of the British Army. History Early history Great Britain was divided into military districts on the outbreak of Anglo-French War (1793–180 ...

in 1930. His final appointment was as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Southern Command from 1933 until his death, when he fell from a horse and had a heart attack, on his sixtieth birthday, in 1934. Radcliffe was Aide-de-Camp General to King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...

from 1 October 1933 until his death.

Personal life

Radcliffe married twice – first to Rahmeh Theodora Swinburne in 1918 and then to Florence Alice Coromandel Tagg in 1932. From 1905 to 1934 Radcliffe owned a house in

Menton Menton (; in classical norm or in Mistralian norm, , ; ; or depending on the orthography) is a Commune in France, commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italia ...

in the south of France. The garden, which he landscaped and curated, is now Menton's botanical garden. It is named the ''Jardin botanique Val Rahmeh'' after his first wife.

Works

* ''Tactical Employment of Field Artillery'' (which he translated from the French). * ''Report on the Franco-British Mission to Poland, July, August 1920''.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Radcliffe, Percy 1874 births 1934 deaths Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army generals of World War I Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Distinguished Service Order British Army generals