Thomas Pakenham, 5th Earl of Longford

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thomas Pakenham, 5th Earl of Longford, KP, MVO (19 October 1864 – 21 August 1915) was an Irish peer. He was born in Dublin.

With the rank of Brigadier-General, Lord Longford commanded the 2nd (South Midland) Brigade of the British 2nd Mounted Division, a yeomanry unit, during the First World War. The Division was initially based in Egypt but was sent dismounted to Suvla on the Gallipoli peninsula as reinforcements during the Battle of Sari Bair. On 21 August 1915 the Division was in reserve for the final attack on Scimitar Hill. When the initial attack by the 29th Division failed, the yeomanry were ordered to advance in the open across a dry salt lake. Raked by shrapnel fire, most of the brigades halted in the shelter of Green Hill but Longford led his brigade in a charge which captured the summit of the hill. As he continued to advance, he was killed. His last words before his death were, reputedly "Don't bother ducking, the men don't like it and it doesn't do any good...."

Longford's body was never recovered as the British made no further advances before the evacuation of Suvla on 20 December. His grave is marked as a special memorial in Green Hill Cemetery at Suvla.

Lord Longford's third daughter, Lady Violet Pakenham, married the noted novelist Anthony Powell.

Preceded by William Pakenham

Earl of Longford 1887–1915

Succeeded by Edward Pakenham