Sir James Handyside Marshall-Cornwall
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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 Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...
and the
Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of Officer (armed forces), commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers o ...
. Commissioned into the
Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It was created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of the regiment, the ...
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 Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig (; 19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior officer of the British Army. During the First World War he commanded the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front from late 1915 until t ...
. 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 Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation, state or country. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in act ...
in 1919. In 1919, after attending the first postwar course at 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 ...
, Cornwall was sent to the
peace conference A peace conference is a diplomatic meeting where representatives of states, armies, or other warring parties converge to end hostilities by negotiation and signing and ratifying a peace treaty. Significant international peace conferences in ...
in
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, where he worked with
Reginald Leeper Sir Reginald "Rex" Wilding Allen Leeper (25 March 1888 – 2 February 1968) was a British civil servant and diplomat. He was the founder of the British Council. Born in Sydney, Australia, Leeper was educated at Melbourne Grammar School, Melb ...
and
Harold Nicolson Sir Harold George Nicolson (21 November 1886 – 1 May 1968) was a British politician, writer, broadcaster and gardener. His wife was Vita Sackville-West. Early life and education Nicolson was born in Tehran, Persia, the youngest son of dipl ...
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 The Shanghai Defence Force was a tri-service military formation established by the British Government to protect European nationals and their property in Shanghai from Chinese nationalist forces during a period of tension in 1927. History Following ...
), to protect British life and property in the
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. This enabled him to acquire
Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
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 In the Battle of France in June 1940, Norman Force, or Normanforce, was a formation of units of the British Expeditionary Force, following the Dunkirk evacuation (Operation Dynamo). On 12 June 1940, Lieutenant-General Sir Alan Brooke returned to ...
, boarding the last ship to leave the port. He took over command of
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in England in June 1940 holding the post until November 1940. In April 1941 he became
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 ...
the
British Troops in Egypt British Troops in Egypt was a command of the British Army. History A British Army commander was appointed in the late 19th century after the Anglo-Egyptian War in 1882. The British Army remained in Egypt throughout the First World War and, after t ...
. 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 The Port of Liverpool is the enclosed Dock (maritime), dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, Merseyside, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Great Float, Birkenhead Docks betwee ...
. 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 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
, 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 German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
archives at the
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captured by the British Army in 1945, and wrote military history. He was president of the
Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...
(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 Russia White Russia, White Russian, or Russian White may refer to: White Russia *White Ruthenia, a historical reference for a territory in the eastern part of present-day Belarus * An archaic literal translation for Belarus/Byelorussia/Belorussia * Rus ...
n 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