John Priestman (British Army officer)

Major General John Hedley Thornton Priestman, CB, CBE, DSO, MC (22 July 1885 – 22 February 1964) was a senior officer in the British Army.

John Priestman
Born	(1885-07-22)22 July 1885
Died	22 February 1964(1964-02-22) (aged 78) Hertford, Hertfordshire, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1904–1941
Rank	Major General
Unit	Manchester Regiment Lincolnshire Regiment
Commands held	Essex County Division (1941) 54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division (1938–41) 13th Infantry Brigade (1934–38)
Battles/wars	First World War Second World War
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order Military Cross Mentioned in Despatches (3) Croix de guerre (France)

Early life and family

John Hedley Thornton Priestman was born on 22 July 1885,[1] the son of J. Priestman of East Mount, Holderness.[2] In 1915, he married Hilda Louise (died 1958), daughter of J. H. Corner of Esk Hall in Sleights. They had two children, one son and one daughter;[2] the son, John Reeve Thornton, was killed in action in North Africa in 1943, while commissioned as a lieutenant in the Army.[3]

Military career

Priestman was commissioned into a volunteer unit, the 6th Battalion, the Manchester Regiment, on 12 March 1904[4] before he passed his examinations and was commissioned into the Lincolnshire Regiment as a second lieutenant on 29 November 1905.[1][5] He was promoted to a lieutenant on 8 October 1910 and served as an Adjutant between November of that year and November 1913. He became a captain on 4 August 1914, an acting major on 11 September 1916, a brevet major on New Years Day 1919 and major on 5 June 1923.[1]

Priestman served in the First World War,[2] and was wounded on duty. Mentioned in Despatches three times during the war, he received the French Croix de guerre,[1] the Distinguished Service Order in 1917,[2] and the Military Cross. He served as Officer of a Company of Gentleman Cadets at the Royal Military College from July 1914 to February 1916; that April, he was posted as a Staff Captain in France for two months, before being appointed Brigade major until September. He returned to his previous post until January 1917, when he was again made a Brigade Major, this time serving until 20 July 1917. The following day, Priestman became a General staff Officer of the 2nd Division in France. From April 1919, he was Commander of a Company of Gentleman Cadets at the Royal Military College and a General Staff Officer. Transferred to Aldershot as a GSO in 1922, he relinquished his post there in May 1924. The following November, he became DAAG Western Command but relinquished that position in January 1928. He was promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel in the meantime (28 June 1924).[1]

April 1932 saw Priestman appointed to be GSOA at the War Office. On 21 December 1934, he transferred to command a Brigade in the Northern Command, serving in Egypt, Palestine and Trans-Jordan as a temporary brigadier between 15 December 1934 and 13 September 1938. He was promoted to the rank of major general on 27 December 1937, became an Aide-de-Camp to the King on 17 November 1937, serving for 10 months, and Colonel of the Lincolnshire Regiment on 3 June 1938. After relinquishing his appointment in the Middle East, he became General Officer Commanding 54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division in September 1938[6] and General Officer Commanding Essex County Division in February 1941 before retiring October 1941.[7]

Priestman was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1938 and a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1939. He retired in 1941 and died on 22 February 1964 at his home in Hertford.[8]

References

1. The Half-Yearly Army List for the Period Ending 31 December 1938, 1939 (London: His Majesty's Stationery Office), p. 61
2. "Priestman, Maj.-Gen. John Hedley Thornton", Who Was Who (online ed.), April 2014 (Oxford University Press). Retrieved 6 March 2016.
3. "General's son killed in Africa", Evening Despatch, 10 May 1943, p. 1. Retrieved 6 March 1944.
4. London Gazette, 11 March 1904 (issue 27656), p. 1622
5. London Gazette, 28 November 1905 (issue 27858), p. 8538
6. "Army Commands" (PDF). Retrieved 4 June 2020.
7. Alanbrooke, Lord (2002). Alanbrooke War Diaries 1939-1945: Field Marshall Lord Alanbrooke. W&N. ISBN 978-1842125267.
8. "Maj.-Gen. J. H. T. Priestman", Times (London), 25 February 1964, p. 15

Military offices
Preceded by Russell Luckcock	GOC 54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division 1938–1941	Succeeded by Evelyn Barker