John Vaughan

John Vaughan was born on 31 July 1871, the second son of John and Elinor Vaughan of ‘Nannau', Dolgelly in Wales. The family was descended from Welsh princes. He was educated at Eton and went on to Sandhurst. He was commissioned on 11 Mar 1891, into the 7th Hussars and promoted to lieutenant on 4 Sep 1894. In 1896 he was on active service in Matabeleland, followed by Mashonaland the next year. He gained a reputation for scouting, accompanied by reliable native guides. He was in the Sudan in 1898 and took part in the charge of the 21st Lancers at Omdurman. Next year, with the rank of captain (9 Oct 1899), he was one of the first to arrive in South Africa, ahead of his regiment, for the Boer War and appointed as Brigade Major, later as DAA on General French’s staff. When the 7th Hussars arrived in 1901 he rejoined them but a year later was given command of a column which achieved good results.
After the war in South Africa he attended Staff College until 1903, and after more staff work in Aldershot was promoted to major on 14 May 1904 transferring to the 10th Hussars, stationed at Mhow, as second-in-command. He was a lieutenant-colonel on 7 May 1908 and assumed command of the 10th who had moved to Rawalpindi in 1907. He was a very popular CO, fiercely loyal to the regiment and taking great care of the men under his command. He led by example, being an expert horseman and a skilled swordsman. He captained the polo team to many victories. When he relinquished command he was sent to Netheravon to command the Cavalry School, but on the way home from India he visited the cavalry schools at Tor di Quinto in Italy, and Saumur in France.
At the outbreak of war in 1914 he was given command of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade (4th Hussars, 5th Lancers, 16th Lancers) In Oct 1915 he was a temporary major-general in command of 3rd Cavalry Division (6th 7th and 8th Cavalry Brigades) with which he remained until the end of the war. He retired from the army in 1920 and lived in Wales. He had been JP in Merioneth since 1912 and was appointed Deputy Lieutenant for Merionethshire in 1917, a CB since 1915, a Doctor of Law in 1917 and CMG in 1919. He was involved with the British Legion, and in WW2 was a Zone commander of the Home Guard. He married Louisa Evelyn Wardell (née Stewart), widow of Harold Piper Wardell, in 1913, who had a son and daughter. He wrote his memoirs, Cavalry and Sporting Memories by Major-General John Vaughan published by Bala Press in 1954, and died on 21 Jan 1956 after falling from his horse. The photo of Colonel Vaughan is from a group photo of the officers of the 10th Hussars taken at Rawalpindi in 1910 while he was CO of the regiment.

Regimental Details | Commanding Officers