Percy Thuillier Westmorland

Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Thuillier Westmorland CMG DSO (25 July 1863 – 4 June 1929) commanded the 10th Battalion, London Regiment, and the 151st (Durham Light Infantry) Brigade during World War I.[1][2] For his dedication to service during his army career he was three times mentioned in despatches and made CMG and DSO.[1]

Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Thuillier Westmorland CMG DSO
Born	25 July 1863 Kensington, London, England
Died	4 June 1929 London, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Awards	CMG DSO Mentioned in despatches x3

After the war, Westmorland retired from the army and went into business with Sir Henry Lunn, one of the founders of Lunn Poly, and became a director of the Palace Hotel and Grand Hôtel des Alpes, Mürren, and the Palace Hotel, Montana.[1]

Westmorland's maternal grandfather was Sir Henry Thuillier who served as Surveyor General of India.[1] His brother in law was Brigadier-General Clifton Inglis Stockwell, the British officer who initiated the 1914 Christmas truce football match at Frelinghien with Baron Maximilian von Sinner.[3][4]

Life

Percy Thuillier Westmorland was born in Kensington on 25 July 1863, the son of Colonel Isaac Peat Westmorland and Rose Julia Westmorland (née Thuillier).[1] Westmorland's mother was the eldest daughter of Sir Henry Thuillier who was Surveyor General of India and responsible for introducing the first national postage stamp to India.[1][5] His first cousin was Brigadier-General Charles Henry Westmorland CB.

Westmorland was educated at Wellington College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.[1] In 1882 he was commissioned into the Bedfordshire Regiment transferring to the West India Regiment in 1892.[1] Westmorland saw service in the Gambia Expedition against Fodey Silah in 1894, where he was mentioned in despatches, and in the Ashanti Expedition of 1895–96.[1]

In the Second Boer War, Westmorland served as staff officer at Glencoe and was afterwards in command at St Helena.[1] In 1901 he served in a further expedition in Gambia before joining the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in the Zakka Khel and Mommand Expeditions of 1908 where he was again mentioned in despatches and made a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order.[1][6]

Westmorland retired from the army in 1912 but rejoined on the commencement of World War I.[1] He went to France in 1915 where he commanded the 10th Battalion, London Regiment, and the 151st (Durham Light Infantry) Brigade.[1] For his dedication to service he was once again mentioned in despatches and made CMG.[1]

After the war, Westmorland retired from the army and went into business with Sir Henry Lunn, one of the founders of Lunn Poly, and became a director of the Palace Hotel and Grand Hôtel des Alpes, Mürren, and the Palace Hotel, Montana.[1]

In 1902, Westmorland married Olivia Amelia Hale in Kensington.[7] He died on 4 June 1929.[7]

References

1. Obituary in The Times, Lieut.-Colonel Westmorland, 7 June 1929, p.19
2. "PT Westmorland | Old Wellingtonian Lodge no. 3404 – Masonic Lodge". owl3404.org. 1 April 2018.
3. "Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage". Kelly's Directories. 15 June 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2019 – via Google Books.
4. Pitogo, Heziel (26 December 2015). "Christmas Truce Story: Ordered to Kill Each Other, British Captain and German Baron Shared Beer Instead". Retrieved 15 June 2019.
5. Taylor, Miles (2 October 2018). "Empress: Queen Victoria and India". Yale University Press. Retrieved 15 June 2019 – via Google Books.
6. "Page 329 – The-VC-and-DSO-Volume-II". lib.militaryarchive.co.uk. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
7. "Ancestry – Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records". ancestry.co.uk. Retrieved 15 June 2019.