General Officer Commanding, Ceylon

General Officer Commanding, Ceylon (also known as Commander of Troops or Officer Commanding His/Her Majesties Troops, Ceylon) was the designation of the General Officer appointed to command all British Army units stationed in the island of Ceylon during the British colonial administration of the island.[1] The post was succeeded by the Commander of the Ceylon Defence Force.

History

The post entitled the holder a seat in the Executive Council of Ceylon and advised the Governor of Ceylon on military matters.

Apart from British Army units that were deployed for garrison duty in the island, the officer held command over the Ceylon Defence Force if mobilized. However mobilization could be carried out only under orders from the Governor.

Following independence in 1948, the command was split. With the creation of the Ceylon Army, it head had was referred to as the Commander of the Ceylon Army and the British troops in Ceylon came under the command of the Commander, Ceylon Garrison and UK troops in Ceylon until the withdrawal of British troops from the island.

Official Residence

The GOC Ceylon was entitled to a Class A Quarters issued to government officers for the use of his official residence in Colombo and had the General's House, Nuwara Eliya as a country house.

List of General Officers Commanding, Ceylon

No.	Rank	Name	Appointment	Left office	Unit	Decorations
1	Colonel	James Stuart	1796
2	Major general	Welbore Ellis Doyle	1 January 1797
3	Colonel	Peter Bonnevaux	30 June 1797		10th Madras Native Infantry
4	Brigadier general	Pierre Frédéric de Meuron	12 July 1797
5	Colonel	Josiah Champagné	February 1799
6	Major general	Hay MacDowall	19 July 1799
7	Major general	David Douglas Wemyss	1804
8	Major general	Sir Thomas Maitland	1805		62nd (Wiltshire) Regiment of Foot	GCB, GCH
9	Major general	John Wilson	1811
10	Lieutenant general	Sir Robert Brownrigg	1812		9th (East Norfolk) Regiment of Foot	GCB
11	Major general	Alexander Cosby Jackson	1812		66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot
12	Major general	Sir Edward Barnes	1820		47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot	GCB
13	Major general	Sir James Campbell	22 July 1822
14	Major general	Sir Hudson Lowe	1826			GCMG, KCB
15	Major general	Sir John Wilson	14 October 1831
16	Major general	Sir Robert Arbuthnot	1839		76th Regiment of Foot	KCB
17	Lieutenant general	Sir Colin Campbell	16 April 1841		78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot	KCB
18	Major general	William Smelt	28 January 1847			CB
19	Major general	Philip Bainbrigge	23 May 1852			CB
20	Major general	Thomas Reed	13 September 1854			CB
21	Major general	Henry Frederick Lockyer	1856	1860		CB, KH
22	Major general	Terence O'Brien	1860	1865
23	Major general	Studholme John Hodson	1865	1869	54th Regiment of Foot
24	Major general	Henry Renny	1869	1874	81st Regiment of Foot	CSI
25	Major general	John Alfred Street	1874	1879	68th Regiment of Foot	CB
26	Major general	William Wilby	1879	1882	King's Own Royal Regiment	CB
27	Major general	Sir John Chetham McLeod	1882	1887	42nd Regiment of Foot	KCB
28	Major general	W. O. Lennox	1887	1888	Royal Engineers	VC, CB
29	Major general	W. G. Dunham	1888	1893		CB
30	Major general	W. Clive-Justice	1893	1897		CMG
31	Major general	F. T. Hobson	1897	1902
32	Major general	Sir Hector MacDonald	1902	1903	92nd Gordon Highlanders	KCB, DSO
33	Brigadier general	G. L. C. Money	1903	1905		CB
34	Brigadier general	R .C. B. Lawrence	1905	1909
35	Brigadier general	A. J. Whitacre Allen	1909	1913		CB
36	Brigadier general	H. H. L. Malcolm	1913	1915	Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders	CB, DSO
37	Brigadier general	F. Hackett-Thompson	1915	1918		CB
38	Brigadier general	F. A. MacFarlane	1918	1920		CB
39	Colonel commandant	Clifford Coffin	1920	1924	Royal Engineers	VC, CB, DSO & Bar
40	Colonel commandant	Harold Higginson	1924	1927	Royal Dublin Fusiliers	CB, DSO & Bar
41	Brigadier	A. C. Girdwood	1927	1931		CB, DSO
42	Brigadier	E. F. Shewell	1931	1934		DSO
43	Brigadier	C. A. Lyon	1934	1937		DSO
44	Brigadier (local rank)	J. O. Thurburn[2]	1937	1941	Royal Artillery	MC
45	Major general	Tim Inskip	1941	1942	13th Frontier Force Rifles	CB, CIE, DSO, MC
46	Lieutenant general	Sir Henry Royds Pownall[3]	1942	1943	Royal Artillery	KBE, DSO & Bar, MC
47	Major general	Sir Francis Ivan Simms Tucker[4]	March 1944	September 1944	Royal Sussex Regiment, 2nd Gurkha Rifles	KCIE, CB, DSO, OBE

References

"British Commanders". Ceylondatabase.net. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
"THE LONDON GAZETTE, 30 JULY, 1937" (PDF). thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
"King's Collections : Archive Catalogues : POWNALL, Lt Gen Sir Henry Royds (1887-1961)". kingscollections.org. Kings College London. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
"Officers of the Indian Army 1939-1945 -- T". www.unithistories.com. Retrieved 17 March 2020.

External links

British Commanders

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[British_Commanders-1] "British Commanders". Ceylondatabase.net. Retrieved 21 March 2014.

[2] "THE LONDON GAZETTE, 30 JULY, 1937" (PDF). thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 1 September 2021.

[3] "King's Collections : Archive Catalogues : POWNALL, Lt Gen Sir Henry Royds (1887-1961)". kingscollections.org. Kings College London. Retrieved 17 March 2020.

[4] "Officers of the Indian Army 1939-1945 -- T". www.unithistories.com. Retrieved 17 March 2020.