Col. Theodore Ernle Longridge OBE Esq (1894-1979)
Tel
Theodore Ernle Longridge (Tel) was born in Pashtun, British India. He was the only son of Lt. Col. Theodore Longridge and Emma Harriet Elizabeth Longridge née Fowle of Chute Lodge, Durrington, and Charlton. He was the father of David John Ernle Longridge and Rosemary Ann Hunt née Longridge. David married Anna Eha Tenacious Watkinson, daughter of Royal Naval Commander John Leslie Watkinson (1921-1997) and great great granddaughter of John Foulkes Roberts (1818-1902), Lord Mayor of Manchester. Rosemary married Michael Hunt, son of Lord Hunt, Baron Hunt of Tanworth. Lord Hunt was head of the civil service, serving under 5 prime ministers. Around 1905, Tel and his family moved back to England where he attended Osborne House School, Dursley. He grew up in Chute Lodge, an estate from his mother’s family, and later lived in the Wiltshire village of Durrington. He attended Wellington College but had to transfer to Eastbourne College, as the doctors believed the seaside was best for his poor health. He finished Eastbourne in 1912.
Tel graduated from the Royal Military College Sandhurst in June 1913, shortly before the first world war broke out. During the beginning of the First World War, Tel was in the Army Service Corps (ASC) as a 2nd Lieutenant. About half way through the war, he switched to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), having passed his flying test at Farnborough Military School on 28th January, 1916, while flying a Maurce Farman Biplane at the age of 22, where he served on the western front as a Lt. Colonel. He flew a Sopwith Camel in the same plane with Lord Dowding (later head of the during the Second World War). Tel become the youngest Captain in the British Army in British history. He was awarded the OBE for his actions in the First World War. His first cousin, Lt. Col. James Atkinson Longridge, was killed in the battle of Somme. His other first cousin, Michael Randolph Fowle, was also killed.
After the war, Tel entered the army, where he later served in Palestine and Kurdistan, as well as Iraq, in 1922 as a Lt. Colonel. During the beginning of the Second World War, he was among the first to be sent to France as a member of the British Expeditionary Force, where he was mentioned in dispatches. He fought in Boulogne and St. Nazaire in 1940. He also served in Sicily and Anzio, as well as in North Africa as colonel to General Montgomery. He served as Montgomery's adjutant, being one of his most trusted men, helping him plan attacks. Montgomery had sent him to train American General Patton's troops. He married Joan Elizabeth Wellesley Whyte, daughter of Col. Percy Horatio Manfred Whyte Esq of Capetown, South Africa.
He retired from the army in the early 1950s after the Second World War. He passed away in his home in 1979.
Tel graduated from the Royal Military College Sandhurst in June 1913, shortly before the first world war broke out. During the beginning of the First World War, Tel was in the Army Service Corps (ASC) as a 2nd Lieutenant. About half way through the war, he switched to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), having passed his flying test at Farnborough Military School on 28th January, 1916, while flying a Maurce Farman Biplane at the age of 22, where he served on the western front as a Lt. Colonel. He flew a Sopwith Camel in the same plane with Lord Dowding (later head of the during the Second World War). Tel become the youngest Captain in the British Army in British history. He was awarded the OBE for his actions in the First World War. His first cousin, Lt. Col. James Atkinson Longridge, was killed in the battle of Somme. His other first cousin, Michael Randolph Fowle, was also killed.
After the war, Tel entered the army, where he later served in Palestine and Kurdistan, as well as Iraq, in 1922 as a Lt. Colonel. During the beginning of the Second World War, he was among the first to be sent to France as a member of the British Expeditionary Force, where he was mentioned in dispatches. He fought in Boulogne and St. Nazaire in 1940. He also served in Sicily and Anzio, as well as in North Africa as colonel to General Montgomery. He served as Montgomery's adjutant, being one of his most trusted men, helping him plan attacks. Montgomery had sent him to train American General Patton's troops. He married Joan Elizabeth Wellesley Whyte, daughter of Col. Percy Horatio Manfred Whyte Esq of Capetown, South Africa.
He retired from the army in the early 1950s after the Second World War. He passed away in his home in 1979.
