Lieutenant Colonel Gerard Evelyn LEACHMAN C I E, D S O Political Officer. Royal Sussex Regiment

[Pompey]

Hi,

 

Today's remembered is Lieutenant Colonel Gerard Evelyn LEACHMAN C I E, D S O Political Officer. Royal Sussex Regiment .   My question is what were the duties of a 'Political Officer' in the Royal Sussex Regiment ?  His death is recorded as being in Baghdad so is his appointment as a Political officer theatre related ?

 

Political Officer has ominous overtones of communist party official not what you expect as an appointment for a British officer.

 

Regards

Pompey

[Acknown]

The term ‘political officer’ derives from a British method of managing territories in the Empire by influencing local rulers; 'indirect rule'. I suspect that Lt Col Leachman was doing this in Baghdad as a staff officer. The appellation of 'Royal Sussex Regiment' just denotes the regiment to which he belonged.

Acknown

[pudsey63]

Hi. There’s an entry in my blog about Gerard Leachman. He was a soldier attached to the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force and was killed during the 1920 Arab Revolt. A very brave man. POs were tasked with securing supplies for the army and working with the local inhabitants to pave the way. Some more controversial than others. But nothing to do with communism. 

There’s a free digital talk tonight to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his death. There may still be space available via education@petersfieldmuseum.co.uk

 

Edited 12 August , 2020 by pudsey63

[Pompey]

Lt Col Leachman's  DSO details:

Gazette Issue No. 31680. D.S.O. Has been awarded the Distinguished Service Order. For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty at Huwaish on 28th October, 1918, and again at Qaiyarah on 30th October, 1918. He displayed marked courage and personally reconnoitring in his own unarmoured car, under heavy fire, ground over which the heavier armoured cars would not move. He then returned to guide them to the attack. The success attained by these cars during the operations was largely due to his intimate knowledge of the country and fearless leading over a trackless desert.

 

He was definitely a brave man and had served a fair amount of time with distinction in Mesopotamia.  A British Political Officer then must be today's equivalent  of special forces / military aid to support the local forces friendly to the UK.

 

The title 'Political Officer' at that time 1918 - 1920 during the initial years of the growth of Communism must have provoked thoughts in Whitehall of a title change ?  

[Kimberley John Lindsay]

Dear All,

Leachman was the subject of a book: "OC Desert" - which I cannot find (too many books!).

He was murdered by tribesmen: shot in the back having enjoyed their hospitality. Having said that, he was not what one would describe as a 'nice man', and was a loner. His bravery was never in question, however...

Kindest regards,

Kim.

[Pompey]

Kim,

found that he has his own wikipedia page with some details of his death and yes you can put him up there as a 'bit of a rogue' ,but to fit into that political climate of the Arab states then a 'nice man' would have not survived as long.  He was definitely a Character I need to know more about.  I will try and hunt down a copy of the book

Regards

[pudsey63]

3 minutes ago, Pompey said:

Kim,

found that he has his own wikipedia page with some details of his death and yes you can put him up there as a 'bit of a rogue' ,but to fit into that political climate of the Arab states then a 'nice man' would have not survived as long.  He was definitely a Character I need to know more about.  I will try and hunt down a copy of the book

Regards

You’ve hit the nail on the head there Pompey; a ‘nice man’ would not have survived, but he was well-liked and respected by Englishman and Arabs alike.

Lots of copies of OC Desert on eBay. His is a story well worth telling.

[Kimberley John Lindsay]

Dear All,

Not that it matters, but I feel slightly misunderstood.

Although scores of highly-decorated and brave men were clearly nice men, including some known to me personally, I did not refer to the gallant 'OC Desert' Leachman in that way: rather the contrary. 

I agree that his saga should be more widely known...

Kindest regards,

Kim.

[MaureenE]

There is another biography of Leachman which is available online

A Paladin Of Arabia: The Biography of Brevet Lieut.-Colonel G E Leachman… of the Royal Sussex Regiment by Major N N E Bray 1936 Archive.org.

 

As per post 2, the terminology Political Officer comes from the Indian Civil Service.

 

There was a department in India which was originally called the Foreign Department, then it became in 1914     the Foreign and Political Department, then in 1937 became the Indian Political Service.  Equivalent to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

 

Cheers

Maureen

[Kimberley John Lindsay]

Dear Maureen,

Thanks for the link to "A Paladin" - highly interesting!

Here is what he looked like...

Kindest regards,

Kim.

[pudsey63]

I’ve been on a mission to raise Leachman’s profile locally as he has been all but forgotten here in his home town. Unfortunately T E Lawrence was very unpleasant about him and his word seems to have been taken as gospel on the subject. I’ve read Leachman’s diaries and rather liked him. He certainly didn’t pretend to be anything other than himself. 

[Kimberley John Lindsay]

Dear pudsey63,

From how I see it, I would agree completely: especially the way you have put it. 

If any Middle East Great War luminary was over-rated, it was Lawrence.

Conversely, Leachman, who was devoid of vanity and said what he thought, has not only been sadly under-rated, but has tended to be forgotten (as you say)...

Kindest regards,

Kim.

 

[david murdoch]

He was originally buried in Feluja then the following March taken to Baghdad where he had a large funeral and then reburied in North Gate cemetery. The armoured car used as a funeral car is the same one (H.M.A.C Harvester of 6th L.A.M.B) which originally went out and retrieved his body. He is mentioned  several times in the L.A.M.B Brigade war diary having meetings with them to discuss operations. 

[david murdoch]

On 13/08/2020 at 10:16, Maureene said:

There is another biography of Leachman which is available online

A Paladin Of Arabia: The Biography of Brevet Lieut.-Colonel G E Leachman… of the Royal Sussex Regiment by Major N N E Bray 1936 Archive.org.

 

As per post 2, the terminology Political Officer comes from the Indian Civil Service.

 

There was a department in India which was originally called the Foreign Department, then it became in 1914     the Foreign and Political Department, then in 1937 became the Indian Political Service.  Equivalent to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

 

Cheers

Maureen

Bray is an interesting character also - he had many years service in India and served in both Mesopotamia and Hejaz  then also as a political officer in Mesopotamia (as Governor of Karbala) He also wrote several reports including for the War Office on the issues in Mesopotamia/Iraq post war. 

[Kimberley John Lindsay]

Dear David,

Thanks for that.

Major Bray had the right idea...

Has anybody got N. N. E. Bray's "Shifting Sands"?

Kindest regards,

Kim.

[david murdoch]

30 minutes ago, Kimberley John Lindsay said:

Dear David,

Thanks for that.

Major Bray had the right idea...

Has anybody got N. N. E. Bray's "Shifting Sands"?

Kindest regards,

Kim.

Kim.

Shifting Sands is also available online.

https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.77401

 

[Kimberley John Lindsay]

Dear David,

Many thanks for that.

Bray set aside two whole chapters describing the redoubtable Leachman (of Arabia!).

For what it's worth, Bray's MC Citation is in the Supplement to the London Gazette, 5 July 1918 (page 7899):-

Captain Norman Napier Evelyn Bray, Indian Cavalry.

'For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He led his Squadron with great skill and determination in an attack,

and consolidated his position under heavy enemy fire.'

Kindest regards,

Kim.

PS: There does not seem to be an Image of N. N. E. Bray at hand...

[david murdoch]

Just now, Kimberley John Lindsay said:

Dear David,

Many thanks for that.

Bray set aside two whole chapters describing the redoubtable Leachman (of Arabia!).

For what it's worth, Bray's MC Citation is in the Supplement to the London Gazette, 5 July 1918 (page 7899):-

Captain Norman Napier Evelyn Bray, Indian Cavalry.

'For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He led his Squadron with great skill and determination in an attack,

and consolidated his position under heavy enemy fire.'

Kindest regards,

Kim.

PS: There does not seem to be an Image of N. N. E. Bray at hand...

Been looking for photo of  him too. He did appear to take a bit of flak when he published his books as the Lawrence promo wagon had been running for some time before that.

[Kimberley John Lindsay]

Dear David,

Typical!

Kindest regards,

Kim.

[Pompey]

Shifting Sands and A Paladin of Arabia both downloaded and on the reading list for next month.  Thanks for the that !  It is amazing what is available if you only know where to look.

 

Best Regards

[pudsey63]

On 15/08/2020 at 17:25, david murdoch said:

Been looking for photo of  him too. He did appear to take a bit of flak when he published his books as the Lawrence promo wagon had been running for some time before that.

Could the man on the right be Bray? The man second right is Grand Duke Dimitrieff, with Sir Charles and Lady Marling, on a visit to Karbala. The picture is from Shifting Sands, and Bray was giving them the tour. Hopefully someone with a better knowledge of uniforms can judge. 

Edited 5 September , 2020 by pudsey63

[pudsey63]

On 15/08/2020 at 17:25, david murdoch said:

 

Edited 5 September , 2020 by pudsey63
Somehow posted this twice. 😳

[david murdoch]

8 hours ago, pudsey63 said:

Could the man on the right be Bray? The man second right is Grand Duke Dimitrieff, with Sir Charles and Lady Marling, on a visit to Karbala. The picture is from Shifting Sands, and Bray was giving them the tour. Hopefully someone with a better knowledge of uniforms can judge. 

I would say there is a high probability that the man on the right is Bray. His white collar tabs are indicating a political officer and looks like he has a Military Cross ribbon.

[Kimberley John Lindsay]

Dear All,

And the officer between Lady Marling and Sir Charles Marling?

He, namely, has the White Tabs of a Political, whereas the more elderly officer at right has Staff Officer or general's tabs...

Kindest regards,

Kim.

 

[david murdoch]

1 hour ago, Kimberley John Lindsay said:

Dear All,

And the officer between Lady Marling and Sir Charles Marling?

He, namely, has the White Tabs of a Political, whereas the more elderly officer at right has Staff Officer or general's tabs...

Kindest regards,

Kim.

 

Chap on the right I'm sure has white tabs just not showing up against his light tunic - red tabs showing up darker in the b/w photos. I had look at the text in the book mentioning the visit of Dimitrieff  but does not elaborate who else was there. For sure the man between the Marlings is an out in field officer and the chap on the far right by the look is certainly higher rank and staffer. So if Bray is in the picture in retrospect more likely the one one between the Marlings (assuming he was not behind the camera!).Here's a photo of Sir Percy Cox  boss political officer (with Gertrude Bell) you can see his tabs. The older officer likely someone out from Baghdad with the VIPs.

 

Edited 6 September , 2020 by david murdoch