Harry Edward de Robillard Wetherall

{{Infobox military person

|name=Sir Harry Edward de Robillard Wetherall

|image=Lieutenant-general H E de R Weatherall, Cb, Dso, Obe, Mc - Commander-in-chief, Ceylon Art.IWMARTLD5621.jpg

|image_size=175px

|caption=A head portrait of Lieutenant-General Sir Harry Weatherall.

|birth_date=22 February 1889

|death_date=18 November 1979 (aged 90)

|birth_place=Belgrave Square, Belgravia, London, England

|death_place=Somerset, England

|placeofburial=

|nickname=

|allegiance={{flag|United Kingdom}}

|branch={{army|United Kingdom}}

|serviceyears=1908−1946

|servicenumber=4407

|rank=Lieutenant-General

|unit=Gloucestershire Regiment
York and Lancaster Regiment

|commands=Commander-in-Chief, Ceylon (1945–1946)
East Africa Force (1941)
11th African Division (1940–1941)
19th Brigade (1938–1940)
1st Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment (1936–1938)
2/4th Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (1917–1918)

|battles=First World War
Arab revolt in Palestine
Second World War

|awards=Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Companion of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Service Order{{London Gazette|issue=13155|page=2187|date=22 October 1917|city=e}}
Military Cross
Mentioned in dispatches

|relations=

|laterwork=

}}

Lieutenant-General Sir Harry Edward de Robillard Wetherall, {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|KBE|CB|DSO|MC}} (22 February 1889 – 18 November 1979) was an officer in the British Army during the First and Second World Wars.

Military career

Wetherall was commissioned into the Gloucestershire Regiment in 1909.{{cite web|url=http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/WETHERALL.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304152102/http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/WETHERALL.shtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 March 2012|title=Wetherall, Harry Edward de Robillard |publisher= Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives|accessdate=7 June 2020}}{{sfn|Smart|2005|p=330}}

He served in the First World War in France and Belgium, becoming Commanding Officer of 2/4th Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in 1917. In March 1918 he was seriously wounded by a piece of shell in his neck.[http://oxfordshireandbuckinghamshirelightinfantry.wordpress.com/tag/captain-k-e-brown/ The Story of the 2/4th Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, G. K. Rose]

After the war he became a lieutenant colonel in the Machine Gun Corps and then a General Staff Officer for Weapon Training in Scottish Command in 1930. He then served in Palestine where he was appointed Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment in 1936 and then Commander of 19th Brigade in 1938.{{sfn|Smart|2005|p=330}}

He served in the Second World War as General Officer Commanding 11th African Division in Abyssinia in 1941: he was part of the "Southern Front" for this campaign and commanded the Division during the advance from Kenya, through Italian Somaliland, and into Ethiopia. In late 1941, with the campaign all but over, the 11th African Division was disbanded and he became General Officer Commanding the East Africa Force. He was then appointed Commander-in-Chief, Ceylon in 1943.

After the war he became Commander-in-Chief, Ceylon at a time when the Sri Lankan independence struggle was ongoing; he retired in 1946.

References

Bibliography

{{cite book|first=Nick|last=Smart|title=Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War|isbn=1844150496|year=2005|location=Barnesley|publisher=Pen & Sword}}