Colonel Chichester De Windt Crookshank

Figure 1. Major Chichester De Windt Crookshank, R.E.[1]
(Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum)

The Crookshanks were a military family. During the Great War period, in addition to Chichester De Windt Crookshank, three of his brothers also served, two in the Royal Engineers and one with the Gurkha Rifles. Their father also served in the Bengal Staff Corps and was killed in action in India in 1888. This work deals primarily with the life of C. De W. Crookshank, although his father’s life and the lives of his brothers are touched on in the narrative. The lives of is two brothers who served in the Royal Engineers are covered in detail in other works by the author.

2. FAMILY INFORMATION AND EARLY LIFE

C. De W. Crookshank was the son of Colonel Arthur Chichester William Crookshank, Bengal Staff Corps (1841-1888) and Mary Elizabeth Crookshank, née Aguilar (1847-1931). The Crookshanks had five additional children: Sydney D’Aguilar (1870-1941), Arthur Alexander (1875-1986), Wilfred Plassey (1878-1916), Claude Kennedy (1880-1955) and Ethel Helen (1884-1976).[2]

Chichester was born at Agra, Bengal on 18 October 1868. As his father was a serving officer in the Bengal Staff Corps, he spent most of his early years in India. At some point prior to 1887 he returned to England and entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich as a Gentleman Cadet.

Chichester Crookshank was commissioned a 2^nd Lieutenant in the Corps of Royal Engineers from Woolwich on 23 July 1887.[3] He then was posted to the School of Military Engineering (S.M.E.) at Chatham for comprehensive training as an engineer officer.

While he was at Chatham his father, Colonel Arthur Chichester William Crookshank, C.B., Bengal Staff Corps, died on 23 October 1888, of wounds received while in command of the 4^th Column of the Hazara Field Force. For his service in the campaign, Colonel Crookshank had previously been awarded the India General Service Medal, 1854 with clasp [Jowaki 1877].

2^nd Lieutenant Crookshanks’ military training at Chatham included courses in field fortifications, construction, surveying, telegraphy, electric lighting, submarine mining, photography, chemistry, military law and tactics. The Field Fortifications course lasted for 4 months and 23 days. This course consisted of field and siege engineering, field defence, attack of fortresses, mining construction, demolition of railways and water supply. The Construction course was 6 months and covered building materials, engineering construction, hydraulics, construction of barracks, drainage, manufacture of iron and steel, mining, quarrying and machinery. Next came the Surveying course consisting of five months of technical training in geodesy, astronomy, meteorology, trigonometrical chain and road surveys and use of surveying instruments. One to two months of military topography followed, which included military surveying and sketching and elementary reconnaissance. In the School of Telegraphy, Electric Lighting and Submarine Mining he studied the theory of electricity, use of telegraph instruments, bracing and connecting instruments, making of batteries, firing mines and testing tubes. All of this was accomplished in two months with an additional one month devoted to electric lighting, signalling by flag, lamps and heliograph. The School of Chemistry was a short course of varying length that generally covered practical chemistry, especially relating to limes, concrete and other building materials. Finally, the School of Military Law and Tactics, also a course of varying length, consisted of special lectures in law and tactics as dictated by current military situations. This training at the School of Military Engineering lasted for just under 24 months.

While at the S.M.E., 2^nd Lieutenant Crookshank was promoted to Lieutenant on 23 July 1890.[4] Upon his successful completion of his training he was posted to India.

Lieutenant Crookshank arrived in India in time to take part in the operations of the Miranzai Field Force between 15 April and 25 May 1891. He was posted to the 5^th Company, Bengal Sappers and Miners. This field force consisted of the following units:

During the campaign, General Sir William Lockhart led the Miranzai Field Force against the Orakzais, destroying villages and imposing a peace settlement. The tribe also attacked British posts along the Samana Ridge before surrendering. As part of the 5^th Company, Bengal Sappers and Miners, Lieutenant Crookshank would have supervised the destruction of many of the villages attacked by the field force. For his service during the campaign he received the Indian General Service Medal, 1854 with clasp [SAMANA 1891].[5]

Crookshank continued to serve in India following the Samana campaign. His name appears on the medal roll for the Queen’s Jubilee Medal, 1897 (WO 100/111), but it is lined through, perhaps indicating that he did not receive the medal. While Chichester was still serving in India, his brother Arthur also was serving there from 1897 to 1898. Arthur served on the North West Frontier and was awarded the India General Service Medal, 1895, with clasp [PUNJAB FRONTIER 1897-8]. Oddly, the award of this medal is shown on Arthur’s Great War Medal Index Card.

Chichester Crookshank was promoted to Captain on 1 April 1898 and he soon left India for service in South Africa.

Upon arrival in South Africa Captain Crookshank was posted to the 23^rd Field Company, R.E. with the 7^th Infantry Division. The company was commanded by Major Spring Robert Rice, R.E.[6] Crookshank took part in the battle of Paardeberg where he was slightly wounded on 20 February 1900.[7] On 4 May 1900 he left the 23^rd Field Company to serve with the Director of Army Telegraphs. On 29 May he was present at the battle of Johannesburg and from 26 to 27 August 1900 he saw action at the battle of Belfast.[8]

Crookshank remained in Pretoria after the war, serving as a Royal Engineers Staff Captain and later with the Field Intelligence Department. For his service during the war he received the Queen’s South Africa medal with clasps [PAARDEBERG][JOHANESBURG] [BELFAST][CAPE COLONY][9] and the King’s South Africa Medal with clasps [SOUTH AFRICA 1901][SOUTH AFRICA 1912].[10]

As Crookshank was a member of the Reserve of Officers, he probably did not have much to do with the Army during these years. He certainly must have served with a Territorial Force unit during the unit’s training exercises and he was promoted to the rank of Major during this period. Nothing was uncovered during this research to indicate his civil occupation, but as he became a Justice of the Peace and a Member of Parliament, it is safe to assume that maybe law or politics was what he pursued during these years. As he later became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries this may also shed some light on his civil pursuits. This fellowship is regarded as recognition of significant achievement in the fields of archaeology, antiquities, history or heritage, so Crookshank may have been involved in a professional manner with one of these fields.

On 31 March 1910 he married Mary Murray Usher (1884-1966) in Edinburgh, Scotland. Chichester and Mary had four sons.[11]

Following the South African War, Crookshank’s service was a combination of military and political postings. During the Great War of 1914 to 1918 he served at home as a Railway Transportation Officer in the rank of Major, Royal Engineers (Temporary Lieutenant Colonel) (Reserve of Officers).[12] Based on the medals that he received for his Great War service, it appears that he also served in an active theater of operations, probably France

Figure 1 above shows him as a Major wearing Infantry Pioneer lapel badges with his Royal Engineers cap badge. This is a rather unusual combination of insignia. The collar badge was that worn by men in Divisional Pioneer Battalions. These battalions were primarily intended as “intelligent infantry” with talents beyond those of pure combatant infantry.

Figure 2. A Pair of Infantry Pioneer Badges.
(Image courtesy of Cultman Collectables)

Infantry Pioneer Battalions in the British Army were modelled after the pioneer battalions of the Indian Army and contained men semi-skilled in light construction with carpentry skills sufficient for revetting and shoring trenches, in addition to the skilled and swift digging of trench lines. The men also received special training in road-making, demolitions and other work which could generally come under the description of ‘pioneering’. One particular role intended for them was to follow up successful assaults and to immediately and rapidly dig communication trenches up to the new front line so that reinforcements and resupply could get forward without being exposed to enemy direct fire.

· he was a staff officer in a higher formation headquarters responsible for pioneer battalion employment, or

· he was an instructor (as a field officer probably the chief instructor) of the Infantry Pioneer School.

This last option appears to be most likely. During the Great War there was an Infantry Pioneer School at Coley Camp in Reading, Berkshire.[13] It is also possible that he was attached to a Divisional Pioneer Battalion in France. A copy of his service papers would be needed to solve this mystery.

His Medal Index Card shows the awards of the British War Medal and Victory Medal for his service. His date of appointment to the rank of Temporary Lieutenant Colonel was 4 March 1916.[14]

While he was serving at home, his brother Arthur was serving in France and his brother Wilfred was with the 1^st Gurkha Rifles in Mesopotamia, where he was killed in action on 8 March 1916. His brother Sydney had attained the rank of Major General by the end of the war and had received many honours and decorations for his service.[15] On 11 May 1920, Chichester De Windt Crookshank was appointed to His Majesty’s Body Guard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms. The London Gazette notice of this appointment, made on 14 May 1920, listed his appointment as follows:

Lieutenant Colonel Chichester De Windt Crookshank, late Royal Engineers, vice Colonel Charles Wheler Hume, M.V.O., deceased.

Figure 3. Colonel Crookshank as one of His Majesty’s Body Guards.
(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)

In 1921 Crookshank was living at 50 Great Cumberland Place, London W.1. (now the Princess Akatoki Hotel). During this period he also was writing and was the author of a book entitled Prints of British Military Operations, A Catalogue Raisonne with Historical Descriptions Covering the Period from the Norman Conquest to the Campaign in Abyssinia. The book was published in 1921 by Adlard and Son, West Newman (London). It contains information about an extensive list of prints, ordered by military campaign.

Figure 4. 50 Great Cumberland Place, London W.1.
(Imaged courtesy of Google Earth)

On 25 November 1924 Crookshank was elected a Unionist[16] Member of Parliament in the House of Commons for the constituency of Berwick and Haddington.[17] Berwick and Haddington was a constituency of the House of Commons from 1918, when it replaced the separate Berwickshire and Haddingtonshire constituencies. The London Gazette entry announcing his election shows his military rank as Colonel.

Figure 5. Lieutenant Colonel Chichester De Windt Crookshank, R.E.
(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)

On 25 March 1926, Chichester De Windt Crookshank was granted a coat of arms by Sir Neville Rodwell Wilkinson, the Ulster King of Arms.[18] His coat of arms is described as follows:

Cres: On a wreath of the colours a dexter cubit arm in armour holding in the hand a dagger in bend sinister Proper hilt and pommel Or.

Escutcheon: Or three boars' heads erased Sable armed and langued Azure a bordure of the second.

Colonel Crookshank left Parliament in 1929 after being unseated by George Sinkinson of the Labour Party, but on 4 November 1931 he ran again for office and was elected to the House of Commons as a Conservative MP for Bootle in Lancashire.[19]

On 19 January 1935 Crookshank was commissioned by the Lord Lieutenant of the County of East Lothian to be Deputy Lieutenant for the County[20] and later that year he retired from Parliament. He continued to serve as a Gentleman of His Majesty’s Body Guard until 12 December 1947 when he resigned from the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms.[21]

Chichester De Windt Crookshank died on 23 October 1958 in Johnstounburn, Humble, East Lothian, Scotland, aged 90.[22] His death was confirmed by his son, George Howard Usher Crookshank (1917-1959) and Howard Usher Cunningham, O.B.E.[23]

During his lifetime Crookshank received the following honours and distinctions: Deputy Lieutenant (DL), Justice of the Peace (JP), Knight of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem (Knights Hospitaller)(KSJ) and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (FSA).

Figure 7. Colonel Chichester De Windt Crookshank.
(Image by Walter Stoneman)

Figure 8. Chichester De Windt Crookshank, Deputy Lieutenant, County of East Lothian.
(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)

Colonel Crookshank was awarded the following medals and awards for his service, as shown in Figure 8 above. It appears that he is wearing six medals in the Figure, but one of the medals is difficult to distinguish, so only the breast badge and five medals are shown below. The missing medal may be the 1897 Jubilee Medal.

· Knight of the Sovereign Order of St John of Jerusalem (Knights Hospitaller) Breast and Neck Badges

· The Queen’s South Africa Medal with clasps [PAARDEBERG] [JOHANESBURG] [BELFAST] and [CAPE COLONY]

· The King’s South Africa Medal with clasps [SOUTH AFRICA 1901] and [SOUTH AFRICA 1902]

Figure 9. Sovereign Order of St John of Jerusalem (Knights Hospitaller).
(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)

Figure 10. (left to right) Queen’s South Africa Medal, King’s South Africa Medal, India General Service Medal 1854, British War Medal and Victory Medal.
(Images from the author’s collection)

Figure 11. The Great War Medal Inex Card of Temporary Lieutenant Colonel Chichester De Windt Crookshank.
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com)

The Medal Index Card shows that he was serving as a Staff Officer when he became eligible to receive the British War Medal and Victory Medal. Unfortunately, the card does not show “The Theatre of War first entered in” or the “Date of entry therein.” It must be assumed that based on the regulations governing the issue of both of these medals, he did serve for some time in an active theatre of the war and that theatre probably was France. The card shows that he was authorized the two Great War medals on 4 January 1921.

NOTE: The medals shown above are not Colonel Crookshank’s medals. They are presented for illustrative purposes only.

NEVILL, Captain H.L. Campaigns on the North-West Frontier, Neeraj Publishing House, Delhi, 1916.

[1] In this photograph Crookshank is wearing a Royal Engineers cap badge and pioneer battalion collar badges.

[6] Later, Major General, KCMG, CB. During the South African War he commanded 23rd Field Company RE, deployed to Ladysmith; during the Siege of Ladysmith, he acted as the commanding officer of the Royal Engineers. In 1901, he designed a simple and inexpensive blockhouse, which saw extensive use. For his services during the war, he was mentioned in despatches four times, received the Queen's Medal with two clasps and the King's medal with two clasps, and was given a brevet promotion to lieutenant colonel in the South African honours list published on 26 June 1902.

[16] The Unionist Party was the main centre-right political party in Scotland between 1912 and 1965. Independent of, although associated with, the Conservative Party in England and Wales, it stood for election at different periods of its history in alliance with a small number of Liberal Unionist and National Liberal candidates.

[23] Howard Usher Cunningham, M.C., Director of J. and J. Cunningham, Ltd., Edinburgh, Scotland.