Major ARTHUR ALEXANDER
CROOKSHANK
Royal Engineers
by
Lieutenant Colonel Edward De Santis ©2008
Arthur Alexander Crookshank was the brother of Major General Sir Sydney D'A. Crookshank. He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on the 25th of July 1893 and was the Fowke Medallist in the School of Military Engineering at Chatham during his period of training there.
Crookshank was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant
on the 25th of July 1896 while serving in the Punjab. He served
with the Bengal Sappers and Miners on the North West Frontier of
India during 1897 and 1898 and was present at the operations at
Tochi. He was awarded the India General Service Medal 1895 with
clasp [PUNJAB FRONTIER 1897-98].
(NOTE: He was actually awared two India General Service Medals;
one named to him as a Royal Engineer and a second medal named to
him in the Bengal Sappers and Miners).
Lieutenant Crookshank was promoted to the rank of Captain on the 1st of April 1904 and the following year was involved in restoration work at Kulu in the Kangra Valley after a strong earthquake.
Crookshank qualified as a 2nd Class Interpreter in Italian in January of 1908 and as a 2nd Class Interpreter in French and German in April of 1908. By 1912 he was serving with the Ordnance Survey in Dublin, and was promoted to the rank of Major on the 23rd of July 1913. He served during the Great War of 1914-1918 and on the 7th of April 1917 he was appointed Acting Lieutenant Colonel and Commander Royal Engineers for the 32nd Division. He was wounded while serving in Italy. For his service during the Great War he was awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.
After the war Crookshank qualified as a 1st Class Interpreter in Modern Foreign Languages and by 1920 had returned to Ireland where he was stationed in Cork.
REFERENCES:
1. The Monthly Army List, December 1912.
2. The Monthly Army List, December 1920.
3. The Monthly Army List, November 1917.
4. The Monthly Army List, January 1922.
5. The Monthly Army List, September 1898.
6. The Monthly Army List, January 1896.
7. Hart's Army List, 1915.
8. The Royal Engineers Journal, December 1941.
9. Who Was Who, 1941-1950.
.