Malcolm Orme Little

Brigadier-General Malcolm Orme Little, CB, CBE (29 November 1857 – 1 February 1931) was a cavalry officer in the British Army and champion polo player. He commanded a cavalry brigade in the Second Boer War and a yeomanry brigade in the First World War.

Brigadier-General

Malcolm Orme Little

CB CBE
Born(1857-11-29)29 November 1857
Paddington, Middlesex, England
Died1 February 1931(1931-02-01) (aged 73)
AllegianceBritish Crown
Service/branch British Army
Years of service1877–1917
RankBrigadier-General
Unit9th Queen's Royal Lancers
Commands held9th Queen's Royal Lancers
3rd Cavalry Brigade
2/1st Welsh Border Mounted Brigade
Battles/warsSecond Boer War
World War I
Spouse(s)Iris Hermione Brassey
ChildrenMalcolm Archibald Albert Little
RelationsGeneral Sir Archibald Little, KCB (father)

Early life

Malcolm Orme Little was born on 29 November 1857[1] at Sussex Square, Hyde Park Gardens, Paddington, Middlesex, England, he was the second son of General Sir Archibald Little, KCB and his wife Jane (née Orme).[2]

Military career

He obtained his first commission as an infantry second-lieutenant in the Royal North Gloucester Militia[lower-alpha 1] on 26 September 1877.[4] On 11 May 1878, he obtained a regular commission as a Second Lieutenant in the 17th Lancers[1] after graduating from the Royal Military College. He had been an Honorary Queen's Cadet.[5] On the same date, he resigned his Militia Commission.[6] On 19 October 1878, he transferred to the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers,[7] his father's regiment.[8] On the same date, the 9th Lancers departed Sialkot, India to take part in the Second Anglo-Afghan War.[9]

Little remained with the 9th Lancers for the rest of the century: he was promoted to lieutenant on 25 February 1880,[10] to captain on 20 October 1886,[11] to Major on 5 September 1894,[12] and to lieutenant-colonel (and to command of the regiment) on 15 March 1900.[13] By this time, the 9th Lancers were on active service in the Second Boer War.[14] The regiment formed part of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade[14] and took part in the battles of Modder River (28 November 1899) and Magersfontein (10-11 December 1899), Relief of Kimberley and Battle of Paardeberg.[8] He was mentioned in despatches from Lord Methuen dated 15 February 1900[15] and Lord Roberts dated 31 March 1900.[16] Little took over command of the brigade[17] and was promoted to the local rank of brigadier-general in South Africa on 10 July 1900.[18][lower-alpha 2] He was awarded a Brevet Colonelcy on 29 November 1900[20] and his local rank was confirmed on 8 April 1902,[21][lower-alpha 3] when he took command of another brigade (possibly the Australian Brigade), which moved to Aberfeldy in the Orange River Colony.[22] He was again mentioned in a despatch on 23 June 1902, this time by Lord Kitchener, who wrote that Little had "proved himself as a capable leader of mounted troops in the field."[23] The war ended with the Peace of Vereeniging in late May 1902, and Little left Cape Town the following month arriving at Southampton in late July.[24]

After four years in command of the 9th Lancers, and having served the normal period in command, Little was retired on half-pay – for the first time – on 15 March 1904.[25] On 24 June 1904, as part of Edward VII's Birthday Honours, he was invested as a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).[26] He was recalled to active service on 4 May 1905 as a Staff Officer for Imperial Yeomanry and was promoted to the substantive rank of colonel.[27] He retired for the second time on 17 October 1908.[28]

With the outbreak of the First World War, Colonel Little was once again recalled to active service. On 18 September 1914 he was temporarily appointed as an Inspector of Remounts.[29] On 20 January 1915, he was appointed as brigade commander,[30] of the second line yeomanry 2/1st Welsh Border Mounted Brigade under the command of the 63rd (2nd Northumbrian) Division in the Newcastle area of Northumberland.[31] In April 1916, the brigade joined the 1st Mounted Division in East Anglia[32] but by July it had left for the Morpeth, Northumberland area.[33][lower-alpha 4] At this time he was promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier-general.[35] On 13 June 1917 he relinquished his command,[36] and retired for the third and final time and was granted the honorary rank of brigadier-general in August 1917.[37]

Polo

Little won the International Polo Cup in 1886 for Britain alongside John Henry Watson, Captain Thomas Hone, and Captain the Hon. Richard Lawley, 4th Baron Wenlock.[38][39]

Personal life

Little married Iris Hermione Brassey[40] (10 November 1879[41] or 1880[42] – 6 August 1970), the daughter of Albert Brassey and the Hon. Matilda Maria Helena Bingham,[43] on 7 July 1903 at St George's, Hanover Square, Westminster, London.[2] He was appointed as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) later.[43] On 19 January 1923, Little was commissioned as a Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Warwick.[44]

Little's son, Malcolm Archibald Albert Little (1904–1944), was a colonel in the 9th Lancers, and a strong polo player.

Death

Brigadier-General Malcolm Orme Little, CB, CBE died on 1 February 1931 at his home 'Dunsmore', Rugby, Warwickshire.[43]

Notes
  1. The Royal North Gloucester became 4th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment on 1 July 1881 and was disbanded on 31 July 1908.[3]
  2. 3rd Cavalry Brigade was one of just three cavalry brigades in the British Army in the Second Boer War.[19]
  3. At this point, he was a lieutenant-colonel, a brevet colonel and local brigadier-general.
  4. Becke shows the 2/1st Welsh Border Mounted Brigade commander as Br-Gen M.D. Little, but this is probably a typo.[31][34]

References
  1. "Malcolm Orme Little". The National Archives. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  2. "Colonel Malcolm Orme Little". FamilySearch. 7 September 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  3. Frederick 1978, p. 100
  4. "No. 24506". The London Gazette. 25 September 1877. p. 5368.
  5. "No. 24580". The London Gazette. 10 May 1878. p. 2986.
  6. "No. 24593". The London Gazette. 14 June 1878. p. 3614.
  7. "No. 24634". The London Gazette. 18 October 1878. p. 5609.
  8. "9th Queen's Royal Lancers at regiments.org by T.F.Mills". Archived from the original on 9 June 2007. Retrieved 22 February 2014.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  9. Hanwell 1949, p. 20
  10. "No. 24820". The London Gazette. 5 March 1880. p. 1906.,
  11. "No. 25640". The London Gazette. 5 November 1886. p. 5326.
  12. "No. 26548". The London Gazette. 4 September 1894. p. 5143.
  13. "No. 27174". The London Gazette. 16 March 1900. p. 1791.
  14. "9th Queen's Royal Lancers 1715-1960 at regiments.org by T.F.Mills". Archived from the original on 15 July 2007. Retrieved 22 February 2014.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  15. "No. 27174". The London Gazette. 16 March 1900. pp. 1785–1787.
  16. "No. 27282". The London Gazette. 8 February 1901. p. 846.
  17. Hanwell 1949, p. 29
  18. "No. 27264". The London Gazette. 8 January 1901. p. 161.
  19. Clarke 1993, p. 55
  20. "No. 27306". The London Gazette. 19 April 1901. p. 2704.
  21. "No. 27441". The London Gazette. 10 June 1902. p. 3753.
  22. "No. 27455". The London Gazette. 18 July 1902. p. 4591.
  23. "No. 27459". The London Gazette. 29 July 1902. pp. 4835–4837.
  24. "The Army in South Africa - Troops returning home". The Times (36821). London. 16 July 1902. p. 11.
  25. "No. 27657". The London Gazette. 15 March 1904. p. 1692.
  26. "No. 27688". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 June 1904. p. 4008.
  27. "No. 27822". The London Gazette. 28 July 1905. p. 5223.
  28. "No. 28186". The London Gazette. 16 October 1908. p. 7472.
  29. "No. 28907". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 September 1914. p. 7463.
  30. "No. 29058". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 February 1915. p. 1171.
  31. Becke 1937, p. 51
  32. Becke 1936, p. 6
  33. James 1978, pp. 17,27
  34. Becke 1936, p. 2
  35. "No. 29627". The London Gazette (Supplement). 19 June 1916. p. 6054.
  36. "No. 30155". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 June 1917. p. 6384.
  37. "No. 30217". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 August 1917. p. 7980.
  38. Thomas F. Dale (1905). Polo Past and Present. Offices of Country Life. p. 105. Captain (now Colonel) Malcolm Little of the 9th Lancers ...
  39. Horace A. Laffaye, Polo in Britain: A History, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 2012, p. 33
  40. "Iris Hermione Brassey in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915". Ancestry.com. 2006. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  41. "Iris Little in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007". Ancestry.com. 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  42. "Iris H Little". Ancestry.com. 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  43. Lundy, Darryl (5 July 2005). "Person Page - 14988". The Peerage. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  44. "No. 32790". The London Gazette. 26 January 1923. p. 617.

Bibliography
  • Becke, Major A.F. (1936). Order of Battle of Divisions Part 2A. The Territorial Force Mounted Divisions and the 1st-Line Territorial Force Divisions (42–56). London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 1-871167-12-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Becke, Major A.F. (1937). Order of Battle of Divisions Part 2B. The 2nd-Line Territorial Force Divisions (57th–69th) with The Home-Service Divisions (71st–73rd) and 74th and 75th Divisions. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 1-871167-00-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Clarke, W.G. (1993). Horse Gunners: The Royal Horse Artillery, 200 Years of Panache and Professionalism. Woolwich: The Royal Artillery Institution. ISBN 09520762-0-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Frederick, J.B.M. (1984). Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978. Wakefield, Yorkshire: Microform Academic Publishers. ISBN 1-85117-009-X.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Hanwell, Major W. (1949). A Short History of the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers, 1715-1949. Aldershot: Gale & Polden.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • James, Brigadier E.A. (1978). British Regiments 1914–18. London: Samson Books Limited. ISBN 0-906304-03-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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