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 ...

Sir Herbert Ralph Hone (3 May 1896 – 28 November 1992) was a

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, barrister and colonial administrator.

Life up to World War II

Ralph Hone was born in

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th ce ...

, Sussex, and was educated at

Varndean Grammar School Varndean School is a secondary school serving a large area of Brighton, England. In 2013, 2017 and 2022, Ofsted inspectors described Varndean as a 'Good' school. Varndean shares the Surrenden Campus with Balfour Primary School, Dorothy Stringer ...

, Brighton. Hone's mother died while he was in his teens; his father, "a man of character", went on to become

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

of Brighton in 1937. His family, the Hones, were distant relations to

Nathaniel Hone the Elder Nathaniel Hone (24 April 1718 – 14 August 1784) was an Ireland, Irish-born portrait and Portrait miniature, miniature Painting, painter, and one of the founder members of the Royal Academy in 1768. Early life The son of a Dublin-based N ...

of the famous painting, writing, cricket and diplomatic dynasty the Hones. However, Ralph's upbringing was far removed from that of his forebears. In April 1915 Hone passed the British civil service examination. He then joined the

Inns of Court Regiment The Inns of Court Regiment (ICR) was a British Army regiment that existed under that name between May 1932 and May 1961. However, the unit traces its lineage back much further, to at least 1584, and its name lives on today within 68 (Inns of Cour ...

and was commissioned in July 1915 in the

London Irish Rifles The London Irish Rifles (LIR) was a reserve infantry regiment and then company of the British Army. The unit's final incarnation was as D (London Irish Rifles) Company, the London Regiment. On 1 April 2022 soldiers in the company transferred ...

. He was posted to the 1/18th battalion and was involved in the

Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used poison gas and the first mass engagement of New Army units. Th ...

in autumn 1915. Hone served in the

Notre Dame de Lorette Notre Dame de Lorette (), also known as Ablain St.-Nazaire French Military Cemetery, is the world's largest French military cemetery.Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions of ...

. During this time Hone was hospitalised with acute

trench fever Trench fever (also known as "five-day fever", "quintan fever" ( la, febris quintana), and "urban trench fever") is a moderately serious disease transmitted by body lice. It infected armies in Flanders, France, Poland, Galicia, Italy, Salonika, Ma ...

and

impetigo Impetigo is a bacterial infection that involves the superficial skin. The most common presentation is yellowish crusts on the face, arms, or legs. Less commonly there may be large blisters which affect the groin or armpits. The lesions may be ...

. He was promoted to lieutenant on 14 April 1917, and to acting captain on 14 January 1918. On 21 March 1918, the Germans opened their Spring Offensive with 6000 guns. Hone's company halted the German's first infantry assault, capturing 25 German prisoners. Hone 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 ...

(MC) for his actions when the Germans attempted to

enfilade Enfilade and defilade are concepts in military tactics used to describe a military formation's exposure to enemy fire. A formation or position is "in enfilade" if weapon fire can be directed along its longest axis. A unit or position is "in de ...

the British lines, becoming severely wounded in the process. He was repatriated to England, and by the end of the war had been promoted to a

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

. The day after the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...

he married Elizabeth Matthews (b. 1894/95), with whom he later had two children, a son and daughter. In 1920, Hone left the army and joined the colonial service in Uganda. He trained as a barrister and on his first long leave was called to the bar by the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

in 1924, during which time he aided in the prosecution of Patrick Mahon, the perpetrator of the Crumbles murders. The next year, he was appointed

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...

's registrar to the high court; followed by resident magistrate. His legal career continued with an appointment as crown counsel in

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania M ...

, followed by Attorney General of Gibraltar (1933–36). While he was in Gibraltar the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

broke out; domestic duties included acting as chairman of the Gibraltar government

slum clearance Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...

commission. From Gibraltar he was posted to

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The south ...

from 1937 to 1943, as Attorney General of Uganda.

World War II

Hone was made commandant of the Uganda Defence Force following the outbreak of the Second World War. In 1941, he was transferred to General Headquarters Middle East, first as legal advisor to advise on law in the conquered Italian territories and later as chief political officer. In March 1943, he was 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 ...

, "to ease his command over the Brigadiers under him"; he was also appointed Commander of the CBE. This was followed by a period in the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence (MoD ...

in London, dealing with the war situation in

South-East Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

. While working at

South East Asia Command South East Asia Command (SEAC) was the body set up to be in overall charge of Allied operations in the South-East Asian Theatre during the Second World War. History Organisation The initial supreme commander of the theatre was General Sir Ar ...

(SEAC) headquarters he got to know

Louis Mountbatten Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British naval officer, colonial administrator and close relative of the British royal family. Mountbatten, who was of German ...

, later Earl Mountbatten of Burma. In August 1945, Hone was sent to Malaya, to oversee the handover to civilian rule, and was present at the

Japanese surrender The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ( ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

on 12 September.

Post-war career

Hone married again in 1945, and had a son by his second wife Sybil. Hone was awarded the Knight Commander of the KBE in 1946. He served as Secretary-General to the Governor-General of Malaya for two years from 1946, followed by Deputy Commissioner-General in south-east Asia from 1948 to 1949, and in 1949 he was appointed

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and Commander-in-Chief of

North Borneo (I persevere and I achieve) , national_anthem = , capital = Kudat (1881–1884);Sandakan (1884–1945);Jesselton (1946) , common_languages = English, Kadazan-Dusun, Bajau, Murut, Sabah Malay, Chinese etc. , gover ...

. Hone was considered a great success as Governor of North Borneo, encouraging the country's recovery from the ravages of the Japanese occupation and expanding the colony's export trades. He was appointed in 1951.

Final years of his career

NorthBorneoRailways-SteamLocomotive-SirRalphHone-02

Hone was head of the legal division of the Commonwealth Relations Office from 1954 to 1961, when he retired from the civil service, and resumed practice at the bar. Given his background in diplomacy and overseas service, he also held many important advisory posts both at home and overseas: his final advisership was to the

Bermuda ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , ...

n government from July to November 1966. Hone was Vice President of the

Royal Commonwealth Society The Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) is a non-governmental organisation with a mission to promote the value of the Commonwealth and the values upon which it is based. The Society upholds the values of the Commonwealth Charter, promoting con ...

. He was also an active freemason, a member of the higher degree of freemasonry, the Ancient and Accepted (Scottish) Rite 33º. Hone was also Bailiff Grand Cross of the

Venerable Order of St John The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of ...

. He died on 28 November 1992. An archive of Hone's papers dating from 1937 to 1972 has been deposited at the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the sec ...

of Commonwealth and African Studies at

Rhodes House Rhodes House is a building part of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on South Parks Road in central Oxford, and was built in memory of Cecil Rhodes, an alumnus of the university and a major benefactor. It is listed Grade II* ...

, part of the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

. The reference for the records is MSS Brit Emp s 407, MSS Ind Ocn s 271. In addition, the papers of Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas George Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma held at

Southampton University , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

Library include correspondence with Hone relating to South East Asia Command 1944–1946. The reference for the records is MB1/C124. A steam engine was named in his honour, the

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds Central parliamentary ...

-built 40604T "Sir H. Ralph Hone", which is now displayed in the Sabah Museum,

Kota Kinabalu , image_skyline = , image_caption = From top, left to right, bottom:Kota Kinabalu skyline, Wawasan intersection, Tun Mustapha Tower, Kota Kinabalu Coastal Highway, the Kota Kinabalu City Mosque, the Wism ...

Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory ...

Publications by Sir Herbert Ralph Hone

*''Revised Edition of the Laws of Gibraltar in Force on 31 December 1935'' Gibraltar: Benedict R Miles for Gibraltar Garrison Library Committee, 1936 *''The Statute Law of the Bahama Islands, 1799–1965 in Force on 1 April 1965'' Nassau: Government of the Colony of the Bahama Islands, 1965 *''The Subsidiary Legislation of the Bahama Islands, 1799–1965'' Nassau: Government of the Colony of the Bahama Islands, 1965

Notes

References

* ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' entry for Sir Herbert Ralph Hone by Philip Warner * Obituary in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'' (4 December 1992) * Obituary in the '' Daily Telegraph'' (7 December 1992) * Obituary in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

'' (7 December 1992) * ''

'' (10 February 1993)
Cambridge University Library: Royal Commonwealth Society Collections Sir Ralph Hone Collection: Saudi Arabia

Liddel Hart Centre for Military Archives entry for Sir Herbert Ralph HoneMajor General Sir Herbert Ralph HONE
– Biographies at www.BritishMilitaryHistory.co.uk

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hone, Herbert Ralph 1896 births 1992 deaths People from Hove Alumni of the University of London Governors of North Borneo Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Military Cross Colonial Legal Service officers Attorneys-General of Gibraltar Attorneys General of the Uganda Protectorate London Irish Rifles officers English barristers English people of Dutch descent British Army personnel of World War I British Army generals of World War II British colonial army officers 20th-century English lawyers Military personnel from Sussex British Army major generals Civil servants in the Commonwealth Relations Office