Colonel Nevile Hugh Cairns Sherbrooke CBE DSO, RHA

[seaforth78]

I have a sword to the above officer made in 1898 when he was commissioned into the Royal Horse Artillery. Would anyone have any details on him please? I haven't really found anything substantial on him.

Thank you kindly.

S78

[battiscombe]

... Feb 1910.. Staff Captain RA 3rd Division - Southern Command .. student at Staff College July 1914 at outbreak of war.. when looks to have been made 'Assistant Embarkation Officer' on mobilisation . [graded as Staff Captain] which fits with his medal card showing this role at Southampton Port 1; Brigade Major RA from March 1915; MID as Major early 1916 when 'Staff' ....a/Lt Col Aug 1916.. relatively unusual as 'staff' trained. and still a half-pay but 'active list' Lt Col in 1925

[seaforth78]

Hi,

Thanks very much for that Battiscombe. Did he ever command a battery before the war? And during the war was he was only on the staff?

Too bad he didn't finish staff college!

[HarryBrook]

He is listed in the August 1918 Army List as 'p.s.c.', so he must have completed the Staff College course at some time.

He was appointed C.B.E. in June 1941, and died on 6.3.1944. An obituary was published in The Times on Tuesday March 7 1944. It noted that he had been due to marry on Saturday March 4 (he was a widower). He was 63 years of age.

[battiscombe]

he was Battery Captain in K Bty RHA in 1912 and adjutant of VI RHA Brigade in 1913; a search of the London Gazette would probably pick up other postings

[stiletto_33853]

SHERBROOKE, Colonel Neville Hugh Cairns

C.B.E. 1941; D.S.O.; 1917; Born London 8 April 1880; son of Rev. Henry Nevile Sherbrooke and Lady Lilias Sherbrooke, eldest daughter of 1st Earl Cairns. Married 1906 Cicely (died 1938) younger daughter of Rev. J.C.M. Mansel-Pleydel of Sturminster Newton, Dorset. One son two daughters. Educated Eton College, Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. 2nd Lieut. Royal Artillery, 1898; served South Africa War 1900 - 02; served R.H.A. India 1902 - 04; Staff Captain Royal Artillery, Salisbury Plain 1908 - 11; Staff College Camberley 1914; served on the Western Front intermittently 1914 - 19, as Brigade Major R.A., Lieut. - Col. R.H.A. and G.S.O.1, G.S.O.1 Baltic Military Mission 1919; G.S.O.1 Mesopotamia (Arab Rising) 1920 - 21. (D.S.O. Bt. Lt. - Col., Despatches six times); Commandant School of Artillery India 1927 - 29, Assistant Commandant Royal Military Academy, Woolwich 1929 - 32; Commander R.A. 53rd Welsh Division T.A. 1932 - 36; retired pay 1936; Commanded Woolwich Garrison 1939 - 41. Recreations; fox hunting, golf, lawn tennis. Address; Felden Court, Boxmoor, Herts. Telephone Boxmoor 371.

Clubs; United Services, M.C.C.

Died 6th March 1944

Source; Who Was Who, Volume 4, 1941 - 1950

All you sword collectors come here for your research

Andy

[stiletto_33853]

His father was an ex Etonian also, Henry Nevile, upper fifth in 1853, became vicar of Clifton, Bristol; late of Portman Chapel, London; formerly Captain 43rd Regiment.

Source; Eton College Lists 1853 - 1892

Andy

[seaforth78]

SHERBROOKE, Colonel Neville Hugh Cairns

C.B.E. 1941; D.S.O.; 1917; Born London 8 April 1880; son of Rev. Henry Nevile Sherbrooke and Lady Lilias Sherbrooke, eldest daughter of 1st Earl Cairns. Married 1906 Cicely (died 1938) younger daughter of Rev. J.C.M. Mansel-Pleydel of Sturminster Newton, Dorset. One son two daughters. Educated Eton College, Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. 2nd Lieut. Royal Artillery, 1898; served South Africa War 1900 - 02; served R.H.A. India 1902 - 04; Staff Captain Royal Artillery, Salisbury Plain 1908 - 11; Staff College Camberley 1914; served on the Western Front intermittently 1914 - 19, as Brigade Major R.A., Lieut. - Col. R.H.A. and G.S.O.1, G.S.O.1 Baltic Military Mission 1919; G.S.O.1 Mesopotamia (Arab Rising) 1920 - 21. (D.S.O. Bt. Lt. - Col., Despatches six times); Commandant School of Artillery India 1927 - 29, Assistant Commandant Royal Military Academy, Woolwich 1929 - 32; Commander R.A. 53rd Welsh Division T.A. 1932 - 36; retired pay 1936; Commanded Woolwich Garrison 1939 - 41. Recreations; fox hunting, golf, lawn tennis. Address; Felden Court, Boxmoor, Herts. Telephone Boxmoor 371.

Clubs; United Services, M.C.C.

Died 6th March 1944

Source; Who Was Who, Volume 4, 1941 - 1950

All you sword collectors come here for your research

Andy

Bingo! But I hope they are all eternally grateful like me!

Yes, I just won his sword in auction and while I do not usually collect to the Royal Artillery, researching his life was interesting enough to get the sword which was a good buy.

Here is the link to the auction link of the sword:

http://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/dickins-auctioneers-ltd/catalogue-id-2872056/lot-19452961?searchitem=true

Thank you Andy, Harry and Battsicombe. Much appreciated!

[HarryBrook]

The Times, Tuesday March 7 1944

COLONEL N. H. C. SHERBROOKE

Colonel N. H. C. Sherbrooke, C.B.E., D.S.O., late R.A., who died in London yesterday, after a short illness, commanded the Woolwich Garrison from 1939 until 1941, when he retired, and was made C.B.E.

Nevile Hugh Cairns Sherbrooke was born on April 8, 1880, the son of the Rev. H. N. Sherbrooke and Lady Lilias Sherbrooke, daughter of the first Earl Cairns. He was educated at Eton and at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. Commissioned in the Royal Artillery in 1898, he served in the South African War and in India before being promoted staff captain, R.A., Salisbury Plain. During the last war he served on the Western Front as brigade major, R.A., as lieutenant-colonel, R.H.A., and as G.S.O.1. He was also G.S.O.1 in Mesopotamia during the Arab rising of 1920-21, when he was mentioned in despatches six times and awarded the D.S.O.

Other appointments held by Colonel Sherbrooke included those of Commandant of the School of Artillery in India; Assistant Commandant of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; and Commander, R.A., 53rd (Welsh) Division, T.A. He went on retired pay in 1936, but returned to service in 1939 for two years. He married Cicely, daughter of the Rev. J. C. M. Mansel-Pleydell. She died in 1938, leaving a son, who is a prisoner of war in Germany, and two daughters.

Colonel Sherbrooke was to have been married last Saturday to the Hon. Mrs. Philip Meldon, widow of Colonel P. A. Meldon, R.A. Her brother, Major Lord Cromwell, D.S.O., K.R.R.C., lately repatriated from Germany, was to have given her away.