List of Old Etonians in the armed services explained

This is a list of Old Etonians (former pupils of Eton College) who are notable because of their time in any of the armed services, whether those of the United Kingdom and its predecessor states (England, Scotland, Ireland and Great Britain), or of other countries of the British Empire and Commonwealth such as Australia, New Zealand, and British India, or of foreign countries.

The College has a distinguished record of military service, having produced 37 Victoria Cross holders (more than any other school) and 13 service chiefs (almost certainly more than any other school).

Recipients of the Victoria Cross

Thirty-seven Old Etonians have been awarded the Victoria Cross, and the conflicts in which they performed those acts range from the Crimean War to the Falklands War. There have also been four Old Etonians eligible for the George Cross, although one of those eligible did not convert his Empire Gallantry Medal to a George Cross.^[1]

• Crimean War
  • Lieutenant-General Lord Henry Percy, (1817–1877)
  • Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Charles Russell, (1826–1883) politician
  • Gerald Goodlake, (1832–1890)
  • Robert James Loyd-Lindsay, 1st Baron Wantage, (1832–1901), politician
• Indian Mutiny
  • Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Fraser, (1829–1895)
  • Clement Walker Heneage, (1831–1901)
  • Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, (1832–1914), Commander-in-Chief, Madras, 1881–1885, India, 1885–1893, Ireland, 1895–1899, and South Africa, 1899–1900, Commander-in-Chief, 1901–1904,
• Umbeyla Expedition
  • George Fosbery (1832–1907), firearms expert
• Zulu War
  • General Sir Redvers Buller, (1839–1908), Adjutant General, 1890–1897, General Officer Commanding Natal, 1899–1900, and I Corps, 1901–1906,
  • Lord William Beresford, (1847–1900)
• Sudan Campaign
  • Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson, (1842–1921), Third Sea Lord, 1897–1901, Flag Officer Commanding Channel Squadron, 1901–1908, and Home Fleet, 1903–1907, First Sea Lord, 1909–1912
  • William Edwards, (1855–1912)
  • Brigadier General Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie, (1872–1955), Governor of South Australia, 1928–1934, and New South Wales, 1935–1936, Governor-General of Australia, 1936–1944.
• Malakand Campaign
  • Alexander Murray, 8th Earl of Dunmore, (1871–1962)
• Boer War
  • Charles FitzClarence, (1865–1914)
  • Frederick Roberts, (1872–1899)
• Somaliland Campaign
  • Major-General Sir John Gough, (1871–1915)
• First World War
  • Brigadier-General John Campbell, (1876–1944)
  • George Boyd-Rochfort, (1880–1940)
  • Francis Grenfell, (1880–1915)
  • Arthur Batten-Pooll, (1891–1971),
  • William Congreve, (1891–1916)
  • Reginald Graham, (1892–1980)
  • John Dunville, (1896–1917)
  • Julian Royds Gribble, (1897–1918)
  • Lieutenant-Colonel Lewis Pugh Evans, (1881–1962)
  • Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Borton, (1883–1933)
  • Lieutenant-Colonel Neville Elliott-Cooper, (1889–1918)
  • Lieutenant Geoffrey Drummond, RNVR (1886–1941)
  • Captain Percy Hansen, (1890–1951)
• North West Frontier
  • Godfrey Meynell, (1904–1935)
• Second World War
  • William Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'Isle, (1909–1991)
  • Christopher Furness, (1912–1940)
  • Charles Anthony Lyell, 2nd Baron Lyell, (1913–1943)
  • Geoffrey Keyes, (1917–1941)
  • David Jamieson, (1920–2001)
• Falklands War
  • H. Jones, (1940–1982)

Recipients of the George Cross

• Squadron Leader G. C. N. Close RAF
• Cadet D.G.M. Hay RNR (later 12th Marquess of Tweeddale)
• Squadron Leader A. H. H. Tollemache, R.Aux.A.F.

Eligible but did not convert Empire Gallantry Medal

• Flying Officer G. R. Branch, RAF

Indian Army

• Paramasiva Prabhakar Kumaramangalam, Chief of Staff of the Indian Army (1967–1970)

Notes and References

1. http://www.etoncollege.com/ Eton College website