Percival Spearman Wilkinson

Sir Percival Spearman Wilkinson
Born	5 July 1865 Mount Oswald, County Durham, England
Died	4 November 1953 (aged 88)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	British Army
Years of service	1883–1923
Rank	Major-General
Unit	Northumberland Fusiliers
Commands	1st Secunderabad Infantry Brigade (1912-1914) 50th (Northumbrian) Division (1915–1918)
Battles / wars	First World War
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Companion of the Order of the Bath

Major-General Sir Percival Spearman Wilkinson KCMG CB (5 July 1865 – 4 November 1953) was a British Army officer who served as colonel of the Northumberland Fusiliers from 1915 to 1935.

Military career

Wilkinson was commissioned as a lieutenant into the 3rd (Militia) Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers (later the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers) on 10 November 1883.[1][2] He was promoted to captain in January 1895.[3] He was seconded for service with the Colonial Office in October 1897[4] and to brevet major in July 1899.[5]

He was promoted to major, on augmentation, in July 1900,[6] was made a brevet colonel in February 1904,[7] and, upon being made a substantive colonel and temporary brigadier general in September 1909,[8] became inspector general of the Royal West African Frontier Force at the same time.[9]

Promoted to major-general on 8 August 1912,[10] he served as commander of the 1st Secunderabad Infantry Brigade, part of the 9th (Secunderabad) Division, on internal security duties in India[11] and was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in January 1914.[12]

He then served as general officer commanding (GOC) of the 50th (Northumbrian) Division in place of Major General The Earl of Cavan on the Western Front from August 1915 until February 1918 during the First World War.[13] He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in June 1917.[14] After relinquishing command of the 50th, he was returned to Britain and made inspector of musketry.[15]

Upon relinquishing this assignment in June 1919,[16] he returned to command 50th (Northumbrian) Division as a peacetime formation in the UK in July 1919 before he retired from the army on 4 July 1923.[17] In retirement he was chief commissioner of the St. John Ambulance.[18] He ceased to belong to the reserve of officers in July 1932.[19]

He was colonel of the Northumberland Fusiliers from January 1915[20] to July 1935,[18] when Major General William Norman Herbert succeeded him.[21]

References

1. "No. 25286". The London Gazette. 9 November 1883. p. 5304.
2. Davies & Maddocks 2014, p. 205.
3. "No. 26597". The London Gazette. 12 February 1895. p. 847.
4. "No. 26913". The London Gazette. 23 November 1897. p. 6530.
5. "No. 27096". The London Gazette. 7 July 1899. p. 4211.
6. "No. 27220". The London Gazette. 14 August 1900. p. 5034.
7. "No. 27735". The London Gazette. 15 November 1904. p. 7369.
8. "No. 28286". The London Gazette. 7 September 1909. p. 6750.
9. "Major-General Sir Percival Spearman Wilkinson KCMG CB". British Empire. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
10. "No. 28634". The London Gazette. 9 August 1912. p. 5921.
11. Perry 1993, p. 106.
12. "No. 12630". The Edinburgh Gazette. 2 January 1914. p. 7.
13. "The Battle of the Somme, July to November 2016". Imperial war Museum. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
14. "No. 30111". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 1917. p. 5458.
15. "No. 30647". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 April 1918. p. 4954.
16. "No. 31577". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 September 1919. p. 12104.
17. "Army List 1940". War Office. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
18. "Colonels". British Empire. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
19. "No. 33843". The London Gazette. 5 July 1932. p. 4383.
20. "No. 29127". The London Gazette. 13 April 1915. p. 3590.
21. "No. 34177". The London Gazette. 5 July 1935. p. 4343.

Sources

• Perry, F.W. (1993). Order of Battle of Divisions Part 5B. Indian Army Divisions. Newport: Ray Westlake Military Books. ISBN 1-871167-23-X.
• Davies, Frank; Maddocks, Graham (2014) [1995]. Bloody Red Tabs: General Officer Casualties of the Great War 1914–1918. Leo Cooper. ISBN 978-1-78346-237-7.

Military offices
Preceded by The Earl of Cavan	GOC 50th (Northumbrian) Division 1915–1918	Succeeded by Henry Jackson
Preceded by Henry Jackson	GOC 50th (Northumbrian) Division 1919–1923	Succeeded by Frederick Dudgeon
Honorary titles
Preceded by Sir George Bryan Milman	Colonel of the Northumberland Fusiliers 1915–1935	Succeeded by Sir William Norman Herbert