Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Hon. Percy Gerald Scarlett (10 April 1885 – 5 October 1957) was a senior

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 Gur ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," ...

Early life

Scarlett was the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Leopold James Yorke Campbell Scarlett and Bessie Florence Gibson, and the great-grandson of

James Scarlett, 1st Baron Abinger James Scarlett, 1st Baron Abinger (13 December 1769 – 17 April 1844), was an English lawyer, politician and judge. Early life James Scarlett was born in Jamaica, where his father, Robert Scarlett, had property. In the summer of 1785 he was sen ...

. He was educated at

Wellington College, Berkshire Wellington College is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the village of Crowthorne, Berkshire, England. Wellington is a registered charity and currently educates roughly 1,200 pupils, between the ages of 13 and ...

. Three of his brothers succeeded to the Abinger Barony, and in 1904 Scarlett was granted the style and precedence of the younger son of a baron by Royal Warrant.

Military career

He attended the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry ...

and was commissioned into the

Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), formerly the 3rd Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army traditionally raised in the English county of Kent and garrisoned at Canterbury. It had a history dating back to 1572 and ...

in 1907. He fought in 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 fig ...

, during which he was

Mentioned in Dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) 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 ...

. He was awarded the

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

. After graduating from the

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which ...

in 1921, he was promoted to brevet

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 ...

he was in the service of the Shanghai Defence Force from 1927 to 1928. Promoted to

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

, he served as commander of the 12th Infantry Brigade and Deputy Constable of Dover Castle between 1936 and 1938. Promoted to

major-general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

he was General Officer Commanding the Deccan District in India in 1938. He saw service in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and was General Officer Commanding the

Indian 4th Infantry Division The 4th Indian Infantry Division, also known as the Red Eagle Division, is an infantry division of the Indian Army. This division of the British Indian Army was formed in Egypt in 1939 during the Second World War. During the Second World War, ...

from 1939 to 1940. He became Director of Mobilization in 1940 and was Deputy Adjutant-General between 1940 and 1942. Scarlett 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 care ...

in 1941 and held the office of Deputy Lieutenant of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

in 1949. Between 1943 and 1953 he was the Colonel of the Buffs. He was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known ...

in 1952.

Marriage

He married Margaret Macdonald Humphreys, daughter of Thomas Humphreys, on 21 November 1928. They had no children.

References

Bibliography

External links

Generals of World War II
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scarlett, Percy 1885 births 1957 deaths Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Companions of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Military Cross People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) officers British Army generals of World War II Deputy Lieutenants of Kent British Army personnel of World War I