Henry Sclater

Henry Crichton Sclater, the third son of James Henry Sclater and Louisa Catherine Fowler, was born on 5 November 1855.[1] After being educated at Cheltenham, he went to the Royal Military Academy and was commissioned in the Royal Artillery in 1875.[2]

Sclater was a General Staff Officer and later Deputy Assistant Adjutant General at the Headquarters for the Nile expedition between 1884-85.[2] He was promoted to Major on 15 June 1885, served in the Egyptian Frontier Field Force from 1885–86 and was Deputy Assistant Adjutant General in Cairo from 1885-90. Following his return to the United Kingdom, he was Brigade major of Royal Artillery, until in late 1899 he was reassigned following the outbreak of the Second Boer War.[3]

He served as Assistant Adjutant General, Royal Artillery and Colonel on the General Staff of the Royal Artillery in South Africa (mentioned in despatches dated 31 March 1900).[4] Following the end of the war, Lord Kitchener (Commander-in-Chief in South Africa) wrote in a despatch dated June 1902 how Sclater "possesses an unusual combination of ability and common sense. I consider him to be a Staff officer of exceptional value, to whom all ranks of the Royal Artillery in South Africa owe much."[5] He returned home with the SS Kinfauns Castle leaving Cape Town in early August 1902, after the war had ended.[6] In recognition of services during the war, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the South Africa honours list published on 26 June 1902,[7] and he received the actual decoration from King Edward VII after his return, during an investiture at Buckingham Palace on 24 October 1902.[8]

In September 1902, Sclater accompanied Lord Roberts, Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, and St John Brodrick, Secretary of State for War, on a visit to Germany to attend the German army maneuvers as guest of the Emperor Wilhelm.[9] The following month, he was back as a regular regimental officer in the Royal Artillery,[10] but in early November 1902 he was again appointed a staff officer as Deputy Director-General of Ordnance, with the substantive rank of colonel in the army.[11] The Army Ordnance Department was responsible for supply of weapons and military equipment. He was Director of Artillery at the War Office from 1903-04 when he became Quartermaster General for India. In 1908 he was appointed Commander of Quetta Division in India.[2]

He served in World War I as Adjutant-General to the Forces and a Member of Army Council from 1914 to 1916: in this capacity he was responsible for the expansion of the Army in 1914.[12] He served as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief for Southern Command from 1916–19, and retired in 1922.[2]

On 12 June 1884 Sclater married Edith Barttelot.[1][13] They had no children.[1]

Sclater died on 26 September 1923, and was survived by his wife, Dame Edith Sclater.[1][13]