Major General Sir James Stewart

He was born in 1861 and joined the Gloucestershire Regiment in 1881, transferring to the 5^th (Royal) Gurkhas Frontier Force two years later. Very much a frontline soldier he was on active service for most of his 25 years as a regimental officer. The Frontier Force had an interesting life and he served in several unusual places apart from the North West Frontier (Burma, China and Tibet to name three). He had two brevet promotions –to Major in 1900 and to Colonel in 1905.

He was promoted Brigadier General in 1914 and was lucky enough to be serving in East Africa in the first part of WW1, getting ‘special promotion’ to Major General. He arrived in Aden in July 1916; he must have been given his KCMG when KGV visited Aden in 1919. For ever the operational soldier, whilst still in Aden he got a mention in despatches (and another campaign medal) in Somaliland in 1920. He retired from the Army in that year being awarded a well earned ‘distinguished service’ pension in 1922.

On retiring he was Chief Commissioner for the Red Cross for a year in Greece and the Near East, for which he made KCB in 1924. He died in 1943.