Major General Sir William Henry Rycroft (17 February 1861 – 4 November 1925) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer who rose to the rank of major general, and colonial governor of British North Borneo.

Military career

Rycroft was the second of six children of Sir Nelson Rycroft, 4th Baronet, and his wife Juliana Ogilvy. His elder brother Richard became the 5th baronet. Rycroft was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

. He enlisted in the British Army in 1871. In 1879 he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the

71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot The 71st Regiment of Foot was a Highland regiment in the British Army, raised as the 73rd (Highland) Regiment of Foot in 1777. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot to become the 1st Battalion, Highl ...

which became part of the

Highland Light Infantry The Highland Light Infantry (HLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881. It took part in the First World War, First and World War II, Second World Wars, until it was amalgamated with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1959 t ...

in 1881. He took part in the

Gordon Relief Expedition The Nile Expedition, sometimes called the Gordon Relief Expedition (1884–1885), was a British mission to relieve Major-General Charles George Gordon at Khartoum, Sudan. Gordon had been sent to Sudan to help the Egyptians withdraw their gar ...

in 1884–85. He transferred as a captain to the

7th Dragoon Guards The 7th (The Princess Royal's) Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1688 as Lord Cavendish's Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as the 8th Horse in 1694 and the 7th (The Princess Royal's) Dragoon Guards for ...

in April 1888, attended 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 ...

, 1891–1892, was deputy assistant adjutant general at York 1895–1896, served on the North-West Frontier in India 1897–1898 and served on the

staff Staff may refer to: Pole * Walking staff, an instrument used for balance when walking * Staff, a weapon used in stick-fighting ** Quarterstaff, a European pole weapon * Staff of office, a pole that indicates a position * Staff (railway signalling) ...

during the

South African War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

1899–1900. While serving at York he was transferred to the

11th Hussars The 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army established in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the First World War and Second World War but then amalgamated with the 10th Royal Hussars (Pri ...

as a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in August 1896. He served in

Somaliland Somaliland, officially the Republic of Somaliland, is an List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country in the Horn of Africa. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden and bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, E ...

from 1902 to 1905, served as a base commandant and was temporarily promoted to lieutenant colonel was regimental commander of the

from 1904, when, in September, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel, until 1908. He had been promoted to

brevet rank In military terminology, a brevet ( or ) is a warrant which gives commissioned officers a higher military rank as a reward without necessarily conferring the authority and privileges granted by that rank. The promotion would be noted in the of ...

of colonel in September 1907. In July 1909, while serving on the

half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the E ...

list, he was promoted to full colonel. He was in South Africa again from 1911 to 1912 and he succeeded Brigadier General

George Forestier-Walker Major General Sir George Townshend Forestier-Walker KCB (2 August 1866 – 23 January 1939) was a senior British Army officer during World War I. Early life and education Forestier-Walker was born in Camberley, the third son of Major-General ...

as assistant quartermaster general in Southern Command from October 1912 to 1914. He fought in the

First World War 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 ...

, which began in the summer of 1914, and was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) 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 of t ...

seven times for his service throughout the conflict. After serving as an assistant quartermaster general from 20 August, he was promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier general and succeeded

William Hickie Major General Sir William Bernard Hickie, , FRGS (21 May 1865 – 3 November 1950) was an Irish-born senior British Army officer and an Irish nationalist politician. As a British Army officer Hickie saw active service in the Second Boer War fr ...

as deputy adjutant and quartermaster general of

II Corps 2nd Corps, Second Corps, or II Corps may refer to: France * 2nd Army Corps (France) * II Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * II Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French ...

of the British Expeditionary Force on 30 September. Promoted to the permanent rank of major general in June 1915, he was then made

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 ...

of the 32nd Division 1915–16, a

Kitchener's Army The New Army, often referred to as Kitchener's Army or, disparagingly, as Kitchener's Mob, was an (initially) all-volunteer portion of the British Army formed in the United Kingdom from 1914 onwards following the outbreak of hostilities in the F ...

formation which he led during the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

in the second half of 1916. He was major general of administration in the Army of the Black Sea 1918–20, then major general in command of administration with

Irish Command Commander-in-Chief, Ireland, was title of the commander of the British forces in Ireland before 1922. Until the Act of Union in 1800, the position involved command of the distinct Irish Army of the Kingdom of Ireland. History Marshal of Ireland ...

from June 1920, when he took over from Major General Felix Ready, until 1921. A year later he retired from the army and served as

governor of North Borneo The Governor of North Borneo was the appointed head of the government of North Borneo. Originally the Governor was appointed by the North Borneo Chartered Company, which was responsible for the administration of the protectorate. Upon North Bor ...

from 1922 until his death in November 1925, at the age of 64. After his death, his predecessor Aylmer Cavendish Pearson took over the governorship for the second time.

Honours

Rycroft was appointed CB in the

1910 Birthday Honours The 1910 Birthday Honours for the British Empire were announced on 24 June, to mark the occasion of the day set apart to celebrate the birthday of the late King Edward VII, who had died on 6 May. In the circumstances, the list was notably shorter ...

, CMG "in recognition of meritorious services during the war" in 1915, and knighted

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

"for services rendered in connection with Military Operations in the Field" in the

1918 New Year Honours The 1918 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were published in ''The London Gazette'' and ''The Times'' in Janu ...

. After the war he was awarded the additional knighthood of KCB "for valuable services rendered in connection with Military Operations in the Balkans" in the

1919 Birthday Honours The 1919 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were ...

; made Grand Commander of the Greek

Order of the Redeemer The Order of the Redeemer (), also known as the Order of the Saviour, is an order of merit of Greece. The Order of the Redeemer is the oldest and highest decoration awarded by the modern Greek state. Establishment The establishment of the Orde ...

and awarded the Greek Medal of Military Merit; awarded the Serbian Order of the White Eagle, 2nd Class (with Swords); made ''commandeur'' of the French

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

; and made a Grand Officer of the Order of the Star of . He was a Knight of Grace of the Order of the Hospital of St John of JerusaJem.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rycroft, William Henry 1861 births 1925 deaths People from Sevenoaks Military personnel from Kent People educated at Eton College Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst British Army major generals British Army personnel of the Mahdist War British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army generals of World War I Governors of North Borneo Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Recipients of Greek civil awards and decorations Recipients of the Medal of Military Merit (Greece) Commanders of the Legion of Honour Knights of Grace of the Order of St John Burials in Hampshire Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley 71st Highlanders officers 7th Dragoon Guards officers Highland Light Infantry officers