Brigadier Sir Ralph Herbert Rayner
MBE (13 January 1896 – 17 July 1977) was a British
Conservative Party politician.
Rayner was commissioned into the
Duke of Wellington's Regiment
The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, forming part of the King's Division.
In 1702, Colonel George Hastings, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, was authorised to raise a new regiment, which he ...
, in which he served as a signals officer. He was seconded to the
Royal Flying Corps
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
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in 1916. During 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 ...
he served on the Western Front and
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
. He was seconded to the
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four ...
in 1917, transferred in January 1919 and served in the
Third Afghan War, for which he was made a Member of the
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
. He transferred to the
Royal Corps of Signals
The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield commun ...
in 1926.
[Half Yearly Army List January 1933] Between