Reginald Laurence Scoones

Reginald Laurence "Cully" Scoones
Nickname Cully
Born 18 December 1900
Died October 1991
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Indian Army, British Army
Years of service 1920s -1954
Rank Major General
Unit Royal Fusiliers, 1st Royal Tank Regiment
Commands held 42nd Royal Tank Regiment Sudan Defence Force 254th Indian Tank Brigade
Battles/wars World War I
World War II
Awards Officer of the Order of the British Empire (1941)
Companion of the Order of the Bath (1951)
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1955)
Distinguished Service Order (1945)
Mentioned in despatches (1945)
Other work Director, National Trade Defence Association

Major-General Sir Reginald Laurence Scoones KBE, CB, DSO (18 October 1900 – October 1991) was a British Army officer who served during World War II and its aftermath. His older brother was Lieutenant-General Geoffrey Scoones.

Contents

Early years

Reginald Scoones was educated at Wellington and Sandhurst, and initially joined the Royal Fusiliers before joining the Royal Tank Regiment in 1923. In 1928, he was seconded to the Sudan Defence Force and commanded the machine-gun battery. In 1935, back in the UK, he was the adjutant of the 1st Royal Tank Regiment and by early 1939 had completed a four-month spell as Staff Captain on the staff of the Mobile Division in Egypt.[1][2]

World War II

At the outbreak of the war, Scoones was working as a brigade major in Cairo before moving to the staff of the Western Desert Force as GSO2 in 1940. In 1941 he received the OBE[3] and after a short spell as second in command of 6th Royal Tank Regiment, was appointed commander of 42nd Royal Tank Regiment, part of 7th Armoured Division fighting in the Western Desert. After a spell first as a GSO1 and then as a deputy director of military training at the War Office in London he was sent to India and assigned to command 254th Indian Tank Brigade on 17 November 1943. The brigade, consisting of M3 Lee tanks and Stuart tanks, was soon in action at the Battle of Imphal, serving under Sir William Slim and Scoones's brother, Geoffrey Scoones who was commanding IV Corps. He was awarded the DSO in 1945 for his "...gallant and distinguished services in Burma..."[4] and was also mentioned in despatches.[5] In July 1945 his substantive rank was raised to colonel.[6]

Post war

After the war, Scoones became Deputy Director of Military Training at the War Office. In 1947 he returned to Sudan as second in command of the Sudan Defence Force. In November 1949 his temporary brigadier's rank was made permanent[7] and he assumed command of the Sudan Defence Force in 1950 in the temporary rank of major-general,[8] in which capacity he also served on the executive council of Sudan. He was appointed CB in 1951[9] and his major-general's rank made substantive in that same year. He was to be the last British commander in the Sudan[10] and in November 1954[11] he handed command over to Lieutenant-General Ahmed Mohamed and was knighted for his services in the 1955 New Year's Honours List.[2] He retired from the army in 1955 and in 1957 became the director of the National Trade Defence Association, a trade organization representing publicans, which position he held until 1969. Scoones died aged 90 in October 1991.

References

  1. ^ London Gazette: no. 34564. p. 6. 25 October 1938. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  2. ^ a b London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 40366. p. 6. 31 December 1954. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  3. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 35209. p. 3882. 4 July 1941. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  4. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 36928. p. 800. 6 February 1945. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  5. ^ London Gazette: no. 37184. pp. 3746–3747 supp=y. 17 July 1944. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  6. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 37245. p. 4377. 28 August 1945. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  7. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 38829. p. 583. 3 February 1950. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  8. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 39017. p. 4633. 15 September 1950. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  9. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 39243. p. 3063. 1 June 1951. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  10. ^ "Obituary: Major-General Sir Reginald "Cully" Scoones". The Daily Telegraph (11 October 1991). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/8041179/Major-General-Sir-Reginald-Cully-Scoones.html. Retrieved 2010-10-19. "So Scoones, the last British C-in-C of the then 5,000-strong force, duly handed over command to his Sudanese deputy, Lt-Gen Ahmed Mohamed." 
  11. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 40392. p. 561. 25 January 1955. Retrieved 2010-10-15.

Sources