Keppel Bethell Explained

Sir Keppel Bethell
Birth Date:10 December 1882
Birth Place:Quidenham, Norfolk, England[1]
Death Date:1947 (aged 64–65)
Allegiance:United Kingdom
Serviceyears:1902–1934
Rank:Major-General
Branch:British Army
Commands:1st Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment
74th Brigade
66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division
2nd Rhine Brigade
Presidency and Assam District
Unit:Royal Garrison Artillery
Northamptonshire Regiment
Battles:First World War
Awards:Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Companion of the Order of the Bath
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George
Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
Distinguished Service Order

Major-General Sir Hugh Keppel Bethell (1882–1947) was a senior British Army officer.

Military career

Educated at Charterhouse School and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Bethell was commissioned into the Royal Garrison Artillery on 24 December 1902.

Seeing active service during the First World War, he became commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, the Northamptonshire Regiment on the Western Front in late 1915, commander of the 74th Brigade in late 1916 and General Officer Commanding 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division in March 1918.[2] Aged just 36, he was the youngest British divisional commander of the 20th century.[3]

After the war he became military attaché to Washington, D.C. in 1919, commander of 2nd Rhine Brigade in April 1924 and Brigadier on the general staff at Northern Command in India in April 1928.[4] His last appointment was as General Officer Commanding Presidency and Assam District in India in December 1930 before retiring in December 1934.[5] Following his retirement he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1935 Birthday Honours.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: FamilySearch.org. ancestors.familysearch.org.
  2. Web site: Major-General Bethell (1882–1947). A Year of War. 26 June 2020.
  3. Web site: British Divisional Commanders during the Great War. Western Front Association. 26 June 2020.
  4. Web site: WWI Western Front DSO group to Major-General H.K. Bethell. Warwick and Warwick. 26 June 2020.
  5. Web site: Army Commands. 20 June 2020.