Henry Leycester Croker

Major General Henry Leycester Croker was a British Army officer who served in the Second Boer War and the First World War as a battalion, brigade and division commander, ending the war in 1918 in command of the 28th Division.

Military career

Henry Leycester Croker was born on 17 October 1864, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, to Captain Edward Croker of the 17th (Leicestershire) Regiment of Foot, and grandson of Lieutenant Colonel William Croker, also of the 17th (Leicestershire) Regiment of Foot. He received his education at Cheltenham College.

He became a lieutenant in the 4th (Militia) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment, on 30 January 1884, and later transferred to the Regular Army as a lieutenant in the Leicestershire Regiment (later the Royal Leicestershire Regiment), his family's regiment, on 28 April 1886.

During the 1890s, Croker served with the 1st Battalion, Leicesters, in the West Indies and North America, and was promoted to captain on 5 February 1894. He was appointed adjutant of the 1st Battalion on 25 November 1899.

Croker served in South Africa during the Second Boer War, participating in operations in Natal from 1899 to 1900, including the action at Talana, the march from Dundee to Ladysmith, the engagement at Lombard's Kop, and the Defence of Ladysmith. He was depicted in Dickinson's and Foster's famous painting, The Defenders of Ladysmith.

He took part in the action at Laing's Nek from June 6 to 9, 1900, and subsequent engagements in Northern Natal and the Transvaal, including Armesfoort, Ermelo, Geluk's Farm, Bergendal, and Badfontein. He was present at the actions at Belfast on 26-27 August 1900, and Lydenberg from 5-8 September 1900.

Croker served under Major General Sir John French in Eastern Transvaal and on the Swaziland border, and under Major General W. Kitchener at Blood River Valley, South Eastern Transvaal, and Ilangapies. For his services, he was mentioned in despatches three times, awarded the Queen's South Africa Medal with four clasps and the King's South Africa Medal, and promoted brevet major on 22 August 1902.

He was confirmed in the rank of major on 31 May 1904 and promoted lieutenant colonel on 1 November 1910.

During World War I, he commanded the 1st Battalion, Leicesters, on the Western Front from 7 September 1914 to 18 March 1915. Croker was promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier general and commanded the 81st Infantry Brigade in France from March 1915 to May 1916 and the 28th Division in Salonika from 21 May 1916 until the end of hostilities in November 1918. He was wounded and received several honors, including beinh made a Companion of the Order of the Bath and St. Michael and St. George, and was six times mentions in despatches.

He married Mabel Tedlie in London on 1 June 1897, and had two daughters. Croker retired in 1923 and was knighted in 1926. He died at the age of 73 in Kensington on 20 August 1938 and is buried in Leicester Cathedral.