20TH LONDON REGIMENT
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Major General

Major General Sir John Stuart Mackenzie Shea

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Major General Sir John Stuart Mackenzie Shea
Major General Sir John Stuart Mackenzie Shea, GCB, KCMG, DSO (17 January 1869 – 1 May 1966) was a British officer in the Indian Army.

Educated at Sedbergh School and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Shea was commissioned into the Royal Irish Regiment as a second lieutenant in February 1888. He was promoted to lieutenant on 11 February 1890, and the following year transferred to the Indian Army where he was posted to the 15th Bengal Lancers. He saw action with the Chitral Expedition in 1895, and was promoted to captain on 11 February 1899. The Second Boer War started in South Africa later the same year, and Shea was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for leading 200 South Australians in a night attack on Commandant Jan Smuts's laager. For his service in the latter parts of the war, he received a brevet promotion to major on 22 August 1902. He became an Instructor at the Staff College, Quetta in 1906.

Shea served in World War I initially as a General Staff Officer first with the British Expeditionary Force and then with 6th Division. He became Commander of 151st Brigade in 1915, General Officer Commanding 30th Division in 1916 and General Officer Commanding 60th (2/2nd London) Division in Palestine in 1917. He commanded the 60th Division at the Battle of Mughar Ridge in November 1917, at the Battle of Jerusalem in December 1917 and at the First Battle of Amman in March 1918. On 9 December 1917 he received the keys of the city of Jerusalem, an act symbolising its surrender by the mayor Hussein al-Husayni, after many other generals refused to take this responsibility.

After the War he became a Corps Commander in Palestine in 1918, General Officer Commanding 3rd (Indian) Division in 1919 and General Officer Commanding Central Provinces District in India in 1921. He went on to be Adjutant-General, India in 1924 and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command, India in 1928 before retiring in 1932.




​Major Gen Sir Robert Dundus Whigham

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Major Gen Sir Robert Dundus Whigham
Whigham was born in 1865, the son of David Dundas Whigham and Ellen Murray (née Campbell). His father was a lawyer and a cricket player. His sister was Sybil Whigham who was a successful tennis player; another brother was the golfer and journalist H. J. Whigham. Their sister Molly Whigham also played golf.

Educated at Fettes College in Edinburgh and at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Robert Whigham was commissioned into the 1st Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment as a lieutenant on 9 May 1885.
He was promoted to captain on 3 March 1892, when he became Adjutant for the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, and was seconded to the Egyptian Army in 1897, where he served in the Nile Expedition of 1898 with the 12th Sudanese Battalion. During the Second Boer War he served first 1899–1900 as Aide-de-camp to Major-General Hector MacDonald, in command of the Highland brigade, and was promoted to major on 1 August 1900. He was later at Army Headquarters in South Africa, and for his service was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in the South Africa Honours list published on 26 June 1902. Following the end of the war, he returned to the United Kingdom in August 1902, and then became Brigade Major for 2nd Army Corps in November 1902.
He also served in the First World War with the British Expeditionary Force. He was appointed Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff at the War Office in 1915. He became General Officer Commanding 59th (2nd North Midland) Division in June 1918 and GOC 62nd (2nd West Riding) Division in August 1918.

After the War he became General Officer Commanding of the Light Division in the British Army of the Rhine. He was appointed General Officer Commanding 3rd Division in 1919, Adjutant-General to the Forces in 1923 and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief for Eastern Command in 1927. He retired in 1931.[

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