Augustus Anwyl-Passingham | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Augustus Mervyn Owen Anwyl Passingham |
| Born | (1880-08-31)31 August 1880 |
| Died | 22 November 1955(1955-11-22) (aged 75) |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Territorial Army |
ColonelAugustus Mervyn Owen Anwyl Anwyl-PassinghamCBEDLJP (31 August 1880 – 22 November 1955) was a British soldier, recruiting officer and Territorial Army organiser.
Born in 1880 in Dover, Anwyl-Passingham belonged to a family of Anglo-Welsh gentry. He was the second and youngest son ofMajor Robert Townshend Passingham, JP, DL (1843–1893), ofBala,Merionethshire, and his wife Lucy Emma (d. 1909), eldest daughter of Thomas Jeffreys Badger ofKingsland,Shropshire. In 1888, his father assumed the additional name of Anwyl. His elder brother was the soldierRobert Townshend Anwyl-Passingham,OBE (1867–1926), and two of his sisters marriedItalian noblemen.[2]
Anwyl-Passingham was educated atDover College,[3] and joined the 3rd (Militia) battalion of theThe Middlesex Regiment as asecond lieutenant on 20 December 1899.[4] He transferred to the regular army as a second lieutenant in the 2nd battalion of the regiment on 14 September 1901, and served with the battalion in theSecond Boer War (1901–02),[5] staying in South Africa with the battalion after the end of the war (June 1902), until they left Cape Town for Southampton on the SSStaffordshire in January 1903.[6] He was promoted to alieutenant in 1903. Between 1905 and 1907, he was part of theRoyal West African Frontier Force[2] and in 1906 participated in theHadeija andSokoto expeditions inNigeria. Returning to the United Kingdom thereafter, he was wounded in 1907 duringrioting in Ireland.[3] Promoted tocaptain in 1911,[2] he was appointed a recruiting staff officer for theLondon Recruiting Area in 1913 and remained in that post after the onset of theFirst World War.[7]
In January 1916, he was appointed astaff captain in theWar Office with thetemporary rank ofmajor; he was promoted to the full rank in July 1916, and in September he was appointed an assistant inspector of registration and recruiting in the War Office.[8] He was made a deputy director of recruiting with responsibility forWales and was promoted to temporary colonel in August 1917;[9] he was appointed anOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the1918 New Year Honours for his services.[10][11]
Anwyl-Passingham left that post and the temporary rank in May 1918,[12] and was "recalled to the colours".[13] According to his obituary inThe Times, he served inItaly and wasmentioned in dispatches.[3] After the war, he served inUpper Silesia between 1919 and 1921,[11] helping to oversee the preparations for its transfer toPoland.[3] He was promoted tocolonel and retired in August 1922.[14]
In 1924, Anwyl-Passingham became secretary of theMiddlesex Territorial Army and Air Force Association, serving until 1945.[3] He was appointed adeputy lieutenant forMiddlesex in 1927 and served as the county'shigh sheriff in 1938. In the1942 New Year Honours, he was advanced toCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).[11][15] He died on November 22, 1955.[3]