Lashmer Whistler
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| Sir Lashmer Gordon Whistler | |
|---|---|
| 3 September 1898 – 4 July 1963 | |
| Nickname | 'Bolo' |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/branch |  British Army |
| Rank | General |
| Commands held | Royal Sussex Regiment |
| Battles/wars | Second Battle of El Alamein Battle of Normandy Operation Market Garden |
| Awards | GCB, KCB, K.B.E., CB, DSO (3 times), MID 3 times |
| Other work | Chairman, Committee on the New Army 1957 |
General Sir Lashmer Gordon Whistler, G.C.B., K.B.E., D.S.O and two bars (3 September 1898 – 4 July 1963) was a British general who served in the First and Second World Wars.
Whistler was the son of Colonel A.E. Whistler of the British Indian Army and his wife Florence Annie Gordon Rivett-Carnac, daughter of Charles Forbes Rivett-Carnac. He was educated at St Cyprian's School where he was an outstanding sportsman, and on the recommendation of the headmaster was awarded a sporting scholarship at Harrow School. He then went to Royal Military College Sandhurst and was commissioned into The Royal Sussex Regiment in 1917 and served in France and Belgium during World War I when he was wounded twice.
After the war he saw service in Russia, Ireland and China. He qualified as Italian interpreter in 1928. In 1936 he became Adjutant of the Royal Sussex Regiment and served in Palestine until World War II. In 1940 he became Lieutenant-Colonel and was Commanding Officer, 2nd Battalion The Royal Sussex Regiment, followed in 1942 by becoming acting Commander, 133rd (Sussex and Kent) Infantry Brigade in the UK and Egypt. He was acting Brigadier commanding the 132nd (Middlesex and Kent) Infantry Brigade at the Second Battle of El Alamein. Subsequently he commanded the 131st (Surrey) Lorried Infantry Brigade in Libya, Italy, and back in the UK. In 1944 he commanded the 160th (South Wales) Infantry Brigade for the Normandy Campaign and was then acting and temporary Major-General General Officer Commanding, 3rd Infantry Division (NW Europe) until the end of the war.
Whistler served in Palestine from 1945 to 1946 becoming Major-General in 1946, commanded British Troops in India from 1947 to 1948 and commanded Troops Sudan, and was the Kaid Sudan Defence Force from 1948 to 1950. In 1950 he became District Officer Commanding, Northumbrian District and General Officer Commanding, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division TA, becoming Lieutenant-General in 1951 when he was General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, West Africa Command. From 1953 to 1957 he was General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command and became a full General in 1955 until his retirement in 1957.
After retirement, Whistler was Chairman of the Committee on the New Army, from 1957 to 1958. He was appointed Deputy Lieutenant, Sussex, 1957 and became Vice-President of the National Smallbore Rifle Association in 1958 and National Rifle Association as well as the Sussex S.B.R.A. and he also managed the N.R.A. overseas teams. He had the title of Colonel Commandant of the Royal West African Frontier Force until 1960, being Honorary Colonel of the Royal Nigerian Military Forces, and the Royal Sierra Leone Military Forces in 1959. He was Chairman of the Army Cadet Force Association from 1961. He took great interest in the Chichester Rifle Club opening its new range in 1961 and presented it with some of his medals. The Whistler Inter club trophy in his memory is still shot annually on the first Friday of April.
Whistler married Esmé Keighley in 1926, the reception being held at his old school St Cyprians. They had two daughters.
[edit] Publications
- Small Bore Rifle Shooting
[edit] References
- Sir John Smyth. Bolo Whistler: the life of General Sir Lashmer Whistler: a study in leadership (London: Muller, 1967)
