Harold Kingsley Explained

Honorific Prefix:Brigadier
Harold Kingsley
Honorific Suffix:CIE DSO
Birth Date:23 December 1885
Allegiance: United Kingdom
Branch:
Rank:Brigadier

Brigadier Harold Kingsley CIE DSO (23 December 1885 – 15 April 1970) was Commandant of the Indian Military Academy (1936-1939) and Aide-de-camp to King George VI.[1] [2] [3] [4]

Early life

Harold Evelyn William Bell Kingsley was born 23 December 1885 in Nenagh, Ireland.[5] He was the son of Col. William Henry Bell Kingsley CB[6] and his wife, Mrs Kingsley, of River View, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary.[1] He was educated at Bedford Modern School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.[1] [4]

Career

After Sandhurst, Kingsley joined the Indian Army.[7] He was appointed Captain on 18 January 1914 and Major on 18 January 1920.[7] During World War I, Kingsley served in Mesopotamia (1916–18) and in the Balkans (1918).[1] He served in Russia, and Trans-Caspia (1919), the Black Sea and Turkey (1919–20) and Waziristan (1921–24).[1] He was made Colonel in 1933.[1]

Kingsley was Deputy Military Secretary, Army Headquarters, India (1933–36).[1] [8] He was Commandant of the Indian Military Academy between 1936 and 1939 and ADC to the King (1938–39).[1] [7] He retired in 1939.[1] [9]

Awards and honours

Kingsley was mentioned in despatches during World War I and on service in Waziristan (1921–24).[1] He was made DSO in 1917 and CIE in 1939.[1]

Personal life

Kinglsey was a member of the Army and Navy Club.[1] In 1926 he married Hon. Olive Mary Kitson, daughter of James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale; they lived at Warnford House, Warnford, Hampshire.[1] [10] There were no children from the marriage and Kingsley died in Hampshire on 15 April 1970.[1]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: subscription. Kingsley, Brigadier Harold (Evelyn William Bell), (1885–15 April 1970), late 4th The Prince of Wales's Own Gurkha Rifles. WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2007. 10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U55519. 978-0-19-954089-1.
  2. Web site: Great Britain and the East. google.co.uk. 1939. 3 July 2015.
  3. [The Times]
  4. Kelly’s Handbook To The Titled, Landed and Official Classes, 1962, Published by Kelly’s Directories Limited 1962
  5. Web site: Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records at Ancestry.co.uk. ancestry.co.uk. 3 July 2015.
  6. Web site: KINGSLEY, William Henry Bell (1835 - 1901), JP for County Tipperary. oup.com. December 2007. 3 July 2015.
  7. Web site: The Half-Yearly Army List for the Period Ending 31st December 1938. Mocavo. 3 July 2015.
  8. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34014/page/318/data.pdf The London Gazette 12 January 1934, Issue 34014, p. 318
  9. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34755/supplement/8389/data.pdf Supplement to The London Gazette, 15 December 1939, Issue 34755, p. 8389
  10. Obituary of Hon. Mrs Harold Kingsley, The Times, 17 June 1964