Western Command (United Kingdom)

Western Command
Active	1793–1972
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Command
Garrison/HQ	Devonport (1793–1907) Chester (1907–1972)

Western Command was a command of the British Army.

Nineteenth century

Government House, Devonport, command headquarters from 1793 to 1907

Watergate House, Chester, command headquarters from 1907 to 1938

Capital House, Chester, command headquarters from 1938 to 1972

Great Britain was divided into military districts on the outbreak of war with France in 1793.^[1] The role of Western District Commander, which was doubled hatted with that of Lieutenant-Governor of Plymouth, was based at Government House, Mount Wise in Devonport.^[2][3] In January 1876 a ‘Mobilization Scheme for the forces in Great Britain and Ireland’ was published, with the ‘Active Army’ divided into eight army corps based on the District Commands. This scheme disappeared in 1881, when the districts were retitled ‘District Commands.^[4] By the 1890s the command included the counties of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset and all of South Wales.^[5]

Twentieth century

Western Command was established in 1905 and was originally called the Welsh & Midland Command before changing its name in 1906.^[6] In 1907 Western Command relocated to Watergate House in Chester.^[7] In 1938, after a brief stay in temporary accommodation at Boughton, it moved to a new purpose-built neo-Georgian property known as Capital House at Queen's Park in Chester.^[8]

First World War

Army Order No 324, issued on 21 August 1914, authorised the formation of a 'New Army' of six Divisions, manned by volunteers who had responded to Earl Kitchener's appeal (hence the First New Army was known as 'K1'). Each division was to be under the administration of one of the Home Commands, and Western Command formed what became the 13th (Western) Division.^[9] It was followed by 19th (Western) Division of K2 in September 1914.^[10]

Second World War

In 1939, under Lieutenant General Robert Haining, the command consisted of Welsh, West Lancashire, and East Lancashire Areas, each commanding two divisions plus other troops.^[11] It covered Wales and the Counties of Cumberland, Westmorland, Lancashire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Cheshire, and Beachley, Gloucestershire as well as the Isle of Man and the coast defence garrisons of Berehaven, Queenstown and (for the purpose of technical training only) Lough Swilly.^[12]

Regular Troops reporting to the Command included:^[12]

• 2nd Bn The Buffs
• 2nd Anti-Aircraft Brigade

During 1943–44, the 80th Infantry (Reserve) Division was assigned to the Command as its training formation. On 1 September 1944, the division was replaced by the 38th Infantry (Reserve) Division, which took over the training role.^[13][14]

Post War

The Command was merged into HQ UK Land Forces (HQ UKLF) in 1972^[15] and the property handed over to the Royal Army Pay Corps.^[8]

General Officers Commanding-in-Chief

GOCs and GOCinCs have included:^[16][17][18]
General Officer Commanding Western District

• 1793 – 1803 Colonel John Campbell
• 1803 – 1812 Major-General Richard England
• 1812 – 1819 Major-General Gore Browne
• 1819 – 1823 Major-General Sir Denis Pack
• 1823 – 1833 Major-General Sir John Cameron
• 1835 – 1840 Major-General Sir Willoughby Cotton
• 1840 – 1842 Major-General Robert Ellice
• 1842 – 1852 Major-General Sir Henry Murray
• 1853 – 1854 Major-General Sir Harry Smith
• 1855 – 1859 Major-General George Eden
• 1859 – 1865 Major-General William Hutchinson
• 1865 – 1866 Lieutenant-General Viscount Templetown
• 1866 – 1869 Lieutenant-General Sir Augustus Spencer
• 1869 – 1874 Major-General Sir Charles Staveley
• 1874 – 1877 Lieutenant-General Henry Smyth
• 1877 – 1880 Lieutenant-General the Hon. Leicester Smyth
• 1880 – 1883 Lieutenant-General Thomas Pakenham
• 1883 – 1885 Major-General James Sayer
• 1885 – 1889 Major-General Thomas Lyons
• 1889 – 1990 Major-General Sir Howard Elphinstone
• 1890 – 1895 General Sir Richard Harrison
• 1895 – 1899 Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Forestier-Walker
• 1899 – 1905 Lieutenant-General Sir William Butler

General Officer Commanding Western Command

• 1905 – 1907 Major General Sir Francis Howard
• 1907 – 1910 Lieutenant General Sir Charles Burnett
• 1910 – 1916 Lieutenant General Sir Henry Mackinnon
• 1916 – 1918 Lieutenant General Sir William Campbell
• 1918 – 1919 Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Snow
• 1919 – 1923 Lieutenant General Sir Beauvoir De Lisle
• 1923 – 1924 Lieutenant General Sir John Du Cane
• 1924 – 1928 Lieutenant General Sir Richard Butler
• 1928 – 1931 Lieutenant General Sir Cecil Romer
• 1931 – 1933 Lieutenant General Sir Cyril Deverell
• 1933 – 1936 Lieutenant General Sir Walter Kirke
• 1936 – 1939 Lieutenant General Sir Henry Jackson
• 1939 – 1940 Lieutenant General Sir Robert Haining
• 1940 – 1941 General Sir Robert Gordon-Finlayson
• 1941 – 1942 Lieutenant General Sir James Marshall-Cornwall
• 1942 – 1944 Lieutenant General Sir Edmond Schreiber
• 1944 – 1946 Lieutenant General Sir Daril Watson
• 1946 – 1948 Lieutenant General Sir Brian Horrocks
• 1948 – 1951 Lieutenant General Sir Frank Simpson
• 1951 – 1953 Lieutenant General Sir Cameron Nicholson
• 1953 – 1953 Lieutenant General Sir Charles Loewen
• 1953 – 1957 General Sir Lashmer Whistler
• 1957 – 1960 Lieutenant General Sir Otway Herbert
• 1960 – 1961 Lieutenant General Sir William Stirling
• 1961 – 1964 Lieutenant General Sir Edward Howard-Vyse
• 1964 – 1966 Lieutenant General Sir Richard Craddock
• 1966 – 1969 Lieutenant General Sir Antony Read
• 1969 – 1972 Lieutenant General Sir Napier Crookenden

References

1. Robert Burnham and Ron McGuigan, The British Army Against Napoleon: Facts, Lists and Trivia, 1805–1815 (2010) p. 7.
2. "Devonport in 1878". Whites Directory of Devon. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
3. "Plymouth Maritime Headquarters (Mount Wise)". Retrieved 21 November 2015.
4. Army List 1876–1881.
5. Harrison, General Sir Richard (1908). "Recollections of a Life in the British Army During the Latter Half of the 19th century". Smith, Eldr & Co. p. 315.
6. Whitaker's Almanack 1907
7. Langtree, Stephen; Comyns, Alan, eds. (2001), 2000 Years of Building: Chester's Architectural Legacy, Chester: Chester Civic Trust, p. 144, ISBN 0-9540152-0-7
8. Chester Walls
9. "13th Division". The long, long trail. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
10. "19th Division". The long, long trail. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
11. Leo Niehorster, Western Command, orbat.com, accessed December 2008
12. Patriot Files
13. Forty 2013, Reserve Divisions.
14. Joslen 2003, pp. 65, 103.
15. "Army Command Structure (United Kingdom)". Hansard. 17 December 1970. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
16. Whitaker's Almanacks 1905 – 1972
17. Western Command at Regiments.org
18. "Army Commands" (PDF). Retrieved 21 November 2015.

• Forty, George (2013) [1998]. Companion to the British Army 1939–1945 (ePub ed.). New York: Spellmount. ISBN 978-0-750-95139-5.
• Joslen, Lt-Col H.F. (2003) [1960]. Orders of Battle: Second World War, 1939–1945. Uckfield: Naval and Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84342-474-1.