Robert Gordon-Finlayson

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For his son, see Robert Gordon-Finlayson (British Army officer, born 1916).

General

Sir Robert Gordon-Finlayson

KCB, CMG, DSO
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George
Distinguished Service Order

CMG, DSO (15 April 1881 – 23 May 1956) was a senior British military officer who was appointed Adjutant-General to the Forces
in 1939.

Military career

Finlayson entered the British Army from the Suffolk Militia and was commissioned into the Royal Artillery as second lieutenant on 17 March 1900.[2] He was promoted to lieutenant on 3 April 1901, and was attached to 131 Battery of the Royal Artillery, stationed at Chatham.[3] Seconded to serve with the Imperial Yeomanry during the Second Boer War in South Africa from 25 April 1902,[4] he received the temporary rank of captain serving in the 24th battalion, Imperial Yeomanry.[5] He vacated his appointment with the Imperial Yeomanry on 1 August 1902,[6] and returned to the Royal Artillery.[7]

Finlayson served during the

General Staff Officer to a Special Mission to Russia in 1917.[2]

After the war Finlayson was Deputy Commander, North Russia Forces, a post he held from 1918 to 1919.

General Staff Officer at the War Office in 1922 and joined the Staff College in 1925.[2]

Finlayson was appointed

General Officer Commanding.[2] He was promoted to general in 1937 and was appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief the British Troops in Egypt in 1938.[2]

Finlayson also served in the

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command in 1940, from which post retired in 1941.[2]

Finlayson was

Colonel Commandant of the Royal Horse Artillery from 1937 to 1947.[10]

Finlayson was appointed a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1937.[10]

Retirement

Memorial to Robert Gordon-Finlayson in St Mary's Church, Kersey, Suffolk.

In retirement Finlayson was appointed a Special Commissioner for the

Deputy Lieutenant for Suffolk,[10] and lived in Kersey.[10]

Finlayson was churchwarden of St Mary's Church, Kersey and a memorial was erected in his memory in the church.[11]

Family

Finlayson was married to Mary Leslie Richmond and together they had two sons, Air Vice Marshal James Richmond Gordon-Finlayson,[12] Major-General Robert Gordon-Finlayson and a daughter, Mary Leslie, who married to become Mary Boyle, Countess of Cork.[13]

References

  1. ^ Smart 2005, p. 121.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
  3. ^ Hart′s Army list, 1902
  4. ^ "No. 27433". The London Gazette. 13 May 1902. p. 3178.
  5. ^ "No. 27431". The London Gazette. 6 May 1902. p. 3012.
  6. ^ "No. 27479". The London Gazette. 3 October 1902. p. 6276.
  7. ^ "No. 27513". The London Gazette. 6 January 1903. p. 107.
  8. ISBN 978-0-19-820577-7
    .
  9. ^ Bourne, Stephen (2012). The Motherland Calls: Britain's Black Servicemen and WOmen 1939–45. Stroud: The History Press.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Who Was Who Volume V 1951–1960 (1961)
  11. ISBN 978-0851155548
    .
  12. ^ JR Gordon-Finlayson
  13. ^ The Peerage.com

Bibliography

External links
Military offices
Preceded by GOC 3rd Division
1934–1936 		Succeeded by
Preceded by GOC-in-C British Troops in Egypt
1938–1939 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Adjutant General
1939–1940 		Succeeded by
Preceded by GOC-in-C Western Command
1940–1941 		Succeeded by
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