Sir Walter Luttrell on:
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Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...
Sir Geoffrey Walter Fownes Luttrell (2 October 1919 – 3 April 2007) was an English landowner in Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
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, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
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, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lor ...
and a soldier who distinguished himself during 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 ...
.
Luttrell was born in Melbourne, Australia
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, where his father was private secretary to the Governor-General of Australia
The governor-general of Australia is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in Australia.Sir Ronald Munro-Ferguson. He grew up at
The
Dunster Castle
Dunster Castle is a former motte and bailey castle, now a country house, in the village of Dunster, Somerset, England. The castle lies on the top of a steep hill called the Tor, and has been fortified since the late Anglo-Saxon period. After t ...
, his family's seat for six hundred years, then was educated at Eton and subsequently read Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Exeter College, Oxford
(Let Exeter Flourish)
, old_names = ''Stapeldon Hall''
, named_for = Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter
, established =
, sister_college = Emmanuel College, Cambridge
, rector = Sir Richard Trainor
...
, where he acquired the friendly nickname of "Goat". He was an avid fox-hunter and polo player in his youth and later a salmon
Salmon () is the common name
In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of ...
fisherman.
Luttrell enlisted as a trooper in 1939 on the outbreak of the Second World War and was subsequently commissioned into the 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars
The 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed by the amalgamation of the 15th The King's Hussars and the 19th Royal Hussars in 1922 and, after service in the Second World War, it was ama ...
. In 1942 he married Hermione Hamilton Gunston (1923–2009), granddaughter of the 2nd Marquess of Dufferin and Ava; the couple had no children.
Luttrell landed with his regiment in Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
two days after the first Normandy Landings
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
and served as second-in-command of his squadron and as regimental gunnery officer during the Normandy campaign. In September 1944, a troop
A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Tro ...
of his squadron was pinned down by German fire in difficult country at the bridgehead over the Meuse-Escaut canal, suffering two tanks disabled by broken tracks and the troop leader a casualty. Captain Luttrell successfully repaired the tanks under fire, extricated the troop, and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy.
In April 1945, during the advance into Germany and the fighting around Ibbenbüren, Luttrell's squadron seized a pass above the Teutoburger Wald
The Teutoburg Forest ( ; german: Teutoburger Wald ) is a range of low, forested hills in the German states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. Until the 17th century, the official name of the hill ridge was Osning. It was first renamed th ...
and fought along the ridge there for a day without support, against heavy opposition. The squadron inflicted heavy casualties, and Luttrell received 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 ...
for his "bold and accurate" use of his 95 mm guns. After the War, Luttrell went with the Hussars to Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East J ...
before retiring from the British Army in 1946.
After four years of farming near Tiverton, Devon
Tiverton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Devon, England, and the commercial and administrative centre of the Mid Devon district. The population in 2019 was 20,587.
History Early history
The town's name is conjectured to derive from "Twy-fo ...
, Luttrell moved into the family home at East Quantoxhead
East Quantoxhead is a village in the district of Somerset West and Taunton, from West Quantoxhead, east of Williton, and west of Bridgwater, within the Quantock Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Somerset, England.
History
Above the ...
. He was an enthusiastic and community-minded landlord who ran the estates at East Quantoxhead and at Dunster after his father's death in 1957. In 1952 he joined the North Somerset Yeomanry
The North Somerset Yeomanry was a part-time cavalry regiment of the British Army from 1798 to 1967. It maintained order in Somerset in the days before organised police forces, and supplied volunteers to fight in the Second Boer War. It served on ...
, and would later be honorary colonel of 6th Battalion, The Light Infantry
The Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Light Division. The regiment was one of four 'large' regiments formed after the 1966 Defence White Paper through the amalgamation of units of the Light Infantry Brigad ...
(TAVR
Percutaneous aortic valve replacement (PAVR), also known as percutaneous aortic valve implantation (PAVI), transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) or transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), is the replacement of the aortic valve ...
). He also served as liaison officer for the Ministry of Agriculture
An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...
from 1965 to 1971.
Luttrell was president of the Royal Bath and West Show
The Royal Bath and West is an agricultural show for the West of England. Held every year at its permanent show ground near Shepton Mallet, Somerset, it is one of a number of County shows in the United Kingdom and is a four-day show. In 2009 a ...
in 1983 and 1992 and a regional director of Lloyds Bank
Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail banking, retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the "Big Four (banking), Big Four" clearing house (finance), clearing banks. Lloyds B ...
from 1972 to 1983. In 1974, after his mother's death, he gave Dunster Castle to the National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
. He was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
This is an incomplete list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Somerset. Since 1714, all Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Somerset.
Lord Lieutenants of Somerset
*John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford 1552–1555
* Willi ...
in 1978, an office he held until 1994, was made a Knight of the Order of St John
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...
in 1981, and a KCVO in 1993.
Arms
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in it ...
of the head of the Luttrell family of Dunster Castle is blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visua ...
ed ''Or, a bend between six martlets sable'', and the crest ''a boar passant argent crined or''.John Guillim, ''The British Banner Display'd: A Complete System of Heraldry'', vol. I (1755), p. 508
References
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