Major-General Neville John Gordon Cameron CB, CMG (9 October 1873 – 5 December 1955) was a British Army officer who served with distinction in many conflicts throughout his almost forty years of military service, most notably during the First World War, serving successively as a staff officer and a brigade and division commander.[2]
Neville Cameron | |
|---|---|
| Born | 9 October 1873 Southsea, Hampshire, England[1] |
| Died | 5 December 1955 (aged 82) |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/ | British Army |
| Years of service | 1892−1931 |
| Rank | Major-General |
| Service number | 21851 |
| Unit | Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders |
| Commands held | 103rd (Tyneside Irish) Brigade 151st (Durham Light Infantry) Brigade 49th (West Riding) Division 16th Infantry Brigade 12th Infantry Brigade 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division |
| Battles/wars | Second Boer War First World War |
| Awards | Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George |
Military career edit
Born in Southsea, Hampshire,[1] the third son of General Sir William Gordon Cameron and educated at Wellington College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst,[3] Cameron was commissioned into the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders in December 1892.[2]
He saw action in the Sudan in 1898 during the Mahdist War.[4] He was present at the Battle of Atbara and the Siege of Khartoum He then served in the Second Boer War, also known as the South African War, from 1900 to 1902. He served with the 2nd Brigade as its brigade major from August 1909 until September 1913, before becoming a staff officer at the War Office in London.[2]
Shortly after the British entry into World War I in August 1914, Cameron went to France with the 1st Division as its Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster-General.[2] Following the conclusion of this assignment, he was a General Staff Officer Grade 1 with Scottish Command and later the 34th Division, with which he fought in the Battle of the Somme in the second half of 1916, by which time he was commanding the 34th Division's 103rd (Tyneside Irish) Brigade, having assumed command of the brigade the previous December. Cameron was badly wounded by enemy machine gun fire on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Somme offensive, and his brigade sustained severe casualties.[2]
After recovering from his injuries, he became commander of the 151st (Durham Light Infantry) Brigade, part of the 50th (Northumbrian) Division, on the Western Front in September 1916 and then became General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division also on the Western Front in October 1917.[5] He commanded the division during all the major battles of the Lys offensive in April 1918 and in the Hundred Days Offensive in autumn 1918 during the final stages of the First World War.[6]
After handing over his command in June 1919, he became commander of 16th Infantry Brigade in Ireland in January 1921 and commander of 12th Infantry Brigade in November 1923 before returning to command the 49th (West Riding) Division again between 1926 and 1930.[5]
He was colonel of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders from 1929 to 1943.[7]
References edit
- ^ a b "Major General Neville John Gordon Cameron, CB, CMG b. 9 October 1873 Southsea, Hampshire d. 5 December 1955". clan-cameron.org.au.
- ^ a b c d e Davies 1997, p. 123.
- ^ Walford, Edward (January 1860). The county families of the United Kingdom; or, Royal manual of the titled and untitled aristocracy of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.
- ^ "No. 27009". The London Gazette. 30 September 1898. p. 5730.
- ^ a b "Army Commands" (PDF). Retrieved 13 June 2020.
- ^ "The 49th (West Riding) Division in 1914-1918". Retrieved 15 May 2017.
- ^ "The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 2 January 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
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Bibliography edit
- Davies, Frank (1997). Bloody Red Tabs: General Officer Casualties of the Great War 1914–1918. London: Pen & Sword Books. ISBN 978-0-85052-463-5.