Walter David Alexander Lentaigne

Regarding Walter David Alexander Lentaigne of Chindit fame.

According to his obituary and funeral service notification in The Times (25th June 1955 and 5th July 1955) then Lentaigne held the rank of Lieutenant-General at the time of his death. This is also mentioned in his wiki entry: Walter Lentaigne - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Now he was properly granted this as an honorary rank upon retirement, however I have been unable to verify this. Being granted an honorary rank normally means that the officer has held the rank in an acting or temporary capacity for a certain periode, but I have been unable to find anything on Lentaigne's post war promotions except that he was still a Colonel, when he was supposed to have retired on 1st January 1952, but the he was retained while serving with the Indian Armed Forces. (London Gazette, 30th May 1950).

So in short I am looking for any information on Lentaigne's post war promotions. I am hoping that some of you might be able to help me.

Thanks in advance.

 

My great Grandfather was awarded a DCM.

I have a copy of his citation that is signed by Lentaigne 21/04/1944 his rank his given as Major General. I assume that this rank is higher than Lieutenant General?

I dont know if this confuses things or not as to why his ranking (to me) would be lower at his time of death.

Please keep me updated.

Ed

 

Regarding Walter David Alexander Lentaigne of Chindit fame.
Thanks in advance.

Hi Steen,

Good to hear from you.

Cheers

Geoff

 

My great Grandfather was awarded a DCM.

I have a copy of his citation that is signed by Lentaigne 21/04/1944 his rank his given as Major General. I assume that this rank is higher than Lieutenant General?


Hi Ed,

Actually not. Lieutenant-General is higher than Major-General, because historically the original rank was Sergeant-Major-General. A list can be found here: British Army officer rank insignia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

When Lentaigne signed your grandfather's citation he was a substantive Major, a war substantive Lieutenant-Colonel, a temporary Colonel and an acting Major-General.

 

Hi Steen,

I have got some info on Lentaigne's Army Career at home. I will dig it out when I get back from work.

Bamboo.

 

Hi Steen,

My information came from this website. It has his career fairly well detailed, but may not verify his final honorary rank.

Hope it helps in some way?

Officers of the Indian Army 1939-1945X -- L

Bamboo.

 

I was fortunate enough last Friday to visit the Gurkha Rifles Museum at Winchester. The reason for my visit was to view the personal papers and photographs of Walter David Alexander Lentaigne, which have only recently been lodged with the museum by the family.

There are useful documents pertaining to his time commanding the Chindits, but the archive also includes many papers from his time before WW2 and afterwards, assisting with the re-formation of the Indian Army post independence. All these papers are backed up by some excellent photographs, spanning all eras.

 

A couple of little snippets to place here. Firstly, a notice explaining why Lentaigne was chosen to command the Special Force in late 1943 during the period of Wingate's recovery from illness. This might have some bearing on why he was eventually chosen to lead the Chindits after Wingate's death.

Also attached, his message to the Chindits post Operation Thursday, thanking them for their efforts and suggesting how they should go about their business back in India.

 

Lieutenant General with no knighthood?

I'll bet he either died unexpectedly or buggered something up (See Lieutenant General Percival).

Edit: Bingo

“Promoted major general and appointed CBE in 1945, Lentaigne was an instructor at the Imperial Defence College in 1946. He was Director of Military Operations, GHQ India, in 1947 and, re-married in 1948, was Commandant of the Indian Staff College 1948–1955. Within three months of his retirement, he died suddenly at his home in London.”

Excerpt From: Nicholas Smart. “Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War”.

 

London Gazette has him as a Major General at death:



Source:
Page 5686 | Supplement 40602, 7 October 1955 | London Gazette | The Gazette

 

Thanks CF. I was very interested in the papers and especially the photographs from his time in India after the war. He seems to have been very influential during the building of the Indian Army post independence.