MAJOR GENERAL S. H. M. BATTYE, C.B., M.A., FRSA
Born 21 June 1907, died 17 April 1987

By

Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Edward De Santis, MSCE, P.E., MinstRE
(U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

STUART HEDLEY MOLESWORTH BATTYE was born at Meshed, Iran in 1907 where his father, an IMS Surgeon, was on the staff of the distinguished Consul General Brigadier General Sir Perry Sykes. His grandfather Richmond was one of the celebrated ten Battye brothers whose exploits with the Corps of Guides and Gurkhas became legendary in India during the second half of the last century. The family had been closely connected with India since the 18th Century and it was small wonder that Stuart was also dedicated to service with the Indian Army.  Stuart was educated at Marlborough, Royal Military Academy Woolwich and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. He was commissioned in 1927 and was posted to the Bengal Sappers and Miners in 1930 with whom he served continuously until 1944. He was soon engaged in frontier operations, serving with 3 Field Company against the Afridis on the Khajuri Plain in 1930 and 1931. Much of his subsequent service with the Bengal Sappers was with one or other of their two field troops, still in those days having half the troop mounted. As a keen polo player he could hardly have asked for better, but in fact, during a short posting to the Training Battalion, he did get something better, namely inclusion in a visiting party of inspection to the fort at Gyantze in Tibet.  A special dispensation had to be obtained for this visit to a country then normally closed to Europeans. This long trek gave him a lasting interest in things Thibetan. After a course at the Quetta Staff College in 1940, he took over command of 1 Field Company which, as Corps Troops in Iraq, was involved in bridging the River Tigris, a project in which he nearly lost his life in January 1943. He returned to Roorkee and became CRE 19 Indian Division in the following year. In 1944 he had to say goodbye to his beloved Indians and to the opportunities for shikar and fishing which India had to offer and returned to the UK as AQMG Control Commission in London. Later going to Germany as AQMG 21 Army Group (QAE). From 1947 to 1949 he was back in the UK as AA and QMG HQ Northern Ireland before going to Marchwood to take command of 17 Port Training Regiment. DMRE writes: 'The impact of his arrival on one young officer in the Regiment was profound. Firm but fair with a marvelous sense of humour, Stuart had that rare knack of being able to communicate with all ranks and, above all, he led by example. He was a man of strongly held principles and a practicing Christian." In 1952 he was promoted and went to Egypt as Colonel E, Middle East Command, returning to London in 1955, again on promotion, as Deputy Military Secretary. His final tour was as Director of Movements in the rank of major general. During this time he initiated the construction of the Landing Ships Logistics (LSL) of which Sir Galahad, which was lost in the Falklands War, was the first to be built. In retirement he became Director of the Rural Industries Bureau (later the Council for Small Industries in Rural Areas) which post he held until 1973. He continued his association with the Indian Army by serving some twenty years as Chairman of the Bengal Sappers and Miners Officers Association and succeeded General Sir Ouvry Roberts as President in 1985. The same year he led a party of three officers and their wives to attend the 182nd  Reunion at Roorkee and was able to report the next year how high the standards achieved by the Bengal Sappers were. Stuart was always ready to help in any matter involving the former Indian Army. He was an outdoor man who became an amateur painter of talent. MCP-P, whose service with the Bengal Sappers paralleled Stuart's in so many ways writes that he felt him almost a relation; yet one that, unlike his actual relations, he never fell out with. Not that Stuart ever relaxed his standards or principles for the sake of peace. He is survived by his wife the former Evelyn Desiree Hartford whom he married in 1940 (who became the chronicler of The Fighting Ten published in 1984) and their three children.

Source: The Royal Engineers Journal, September 1987.

 Stuart Hedley Molesworth Battye was the son of Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Walter Rothney Battye, D.S.O., M.B., F.R.C.S. (1874-1943). Doctor Battye had served in the Indian Medical Service, with 10th Bengal Lancers, 12th Bengal Cavalry, 14th Sikhs to China in 1900, Boxer Rebellion. Later a political officer in India; British Vice-Consul at Meshed; acting Consul-General in Khorassan; Residency Surgeon, Udaipur State; OC 108th Indian Field Ambulance, 1914; Director Civil Medical Services, Mesopotamia.  Basil Condon Battye and Walter Rothney Battye were brothers; therefore, Stuart Hedley Molesworth Battye and Walter Rothney Battye were cousins. 

Source: “The Fighting Battyes.”


              The following is a summary of the military career of Stuart Hedley Molesworth Battye based on entries found in the London Gazette.  It is meant to complement the summary presented above. 

The London Gazette, 28 January 1930, p. 575. 

 S.H.M. Battye is promoted from 2nd Lieutenant to Lieutenant (29 January 1930).

The London Gazette, 4 February 1938, p. 735.

Lieutenant S.H.M. Battye to be Captain (29 January 1938).

Supplement to the London Gazette, 1 February 1944, p. 570.

Captain S.H.M. Battye (37038) to be Major (29 January 1944) 

Supplement to the London Gazette, 5 September 1950, p. 4473. 

Major S.H.M. Battye, B.A. (37038) to be Lieutenant Colonel (31 March 1950). 

Supplement to the London Gazette, 29 September 1953, p. 5157. 

Lieutenant Colonel S.H.M. Battye (37038) on completion of tenure as Regimental Lieutenant Colonel remains on full pay (supernumerary) (31 March 1953). 

Supplement to the London Gazette, 29 January 1954, p. 693. 

Notification in Gazette (Supplement) dated 29 September 1953 concerning Lieutenant Colonel S.H.M. Battye (37038) is cancelled.

Supplement to the London Gazette, 30 July 1957, p. 4491. 

Colonel (Temporary/Brigadier) S.H.M. Battye, M.A. (37038), late R.E. to be Brigadier (29 January 1957). 

NOTE: Promotion to Colonel and appointment to Temporary Brigadier was not found in the London Gazette. 

Supplement to the London Gazette, 28 March 1958, p. 1987. 

Brigadier S.H.M. Battye, M.A. (37038), late R.E. is appointed Director of Movements, The War Office, and is granted the temporary ranks of Major General (26 March 1958). 

Supplement to the London Gazette, 26 September 1958, p. 5879. 

Brigadier (Temporary Major General) S.H.M. Battye, M.A. (37038), late R.E. to be Major General (15 August 1958).  

Supplement to the London Gazette, 1 January 1960, p. 3. 

Major General Stuart Hedley Molesworth BATTYE (37038), late Corps of Royal Engineers in appointed to, the Most Honourable Order of the Bath.  To be Ordinary Member of the Military Division of the Third Class, or Companion, of the said Most Honourable Order. 

Supplement to the London Gazette, 23 June 1961, p. 4761. 

Major General S.H.M. Battye, C.B., M.A. (37038), late R.E., relinquishes the appointment as Director of Movements, War Office (26 June 1961). 

Supplement to the London Gazette, 21 July 1961, p. 5493. 

Major General S.H.M. Battye, C.B., M.A. (37038), late R.E. retires on retired pay (24 July 1961). 

Supplement to the London Gazette, 27 June 1967, p. 7061. 

Major General S.H.M. Battye, C.B., M.A. (37038), late R.E., having attained the age limit for liability to recall, ceases to belong to the Reserve of Officers (21 June 1967)..