Evelyn Dalrymple Fanshawe

Evelyn Dalrymple Fanshawe was born in 1895, the son of Lieut-Gen Sir Hew Dalrymple Fanshawe KCB KCMG and the grandson on his mother's side of Sir Evelyn Wood. His father was CO of the Queen's Bays from 1903 to 07, and Colonel of the Regiment from 1921 to 30. He was commissioned into the Queen's Bays in 1914 and saw service in France, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Persia, Russia and Syria during World War I; among his assignments during this period he was, in 1915, ADC to his father who was General Officer Commanding the British Cavalry Corps. From 1915-1919 he was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps.
He returned to his regiment as Adjutant in 1919 after an equitation course at Weedon and was put in command of the mechanised machine-gun squadron. He married Marie Harari in 1920. The regiment was posted to India from 1921 to 28 and as a keen polo player he had plenty of opportunity to hone his skills. In 1931 the Queen's Bays were at Shorncliffe in Kent and won the inter-regimental polo tournament for the first time in the regiment's history. The team was made up of four future commanding officers: G W C Draffen, A H Barclay, and the brothers George and Evelyn Fanshawe. In the same year, Evelyn won the individual skill-at-arms medal at the Royal Tournament at Olympia in London. The Fanshawe brothers led a very successful team of Queen's Bays medal winners from 1932 to 1936. The picture of him in mounted service dress is from a group photo of Royal Tournament medal winners taken in 1936.
Evelyn was appointed CO on 3 Oct 1934. He led them out on brigade training followed by manoeuvres, for the last time as a horse mounted regiment. In Oct 1936 the regiment became mechanised. In 1939 he was appointed Commander of the 20th Armoured Brigade, and following promotion to Major General he held the post of Commander of the Royal Armoured Corps Training Establishment, from 1942 to the end of the War. Fanshawe retired from the Army in 1945 and became the UN Relief and Rehabilitation Administration Director in the British Zone of Germany (1945-1948). Subsequently he was Director of the International Refugee Organisation in the British Zone in Germany from 1948-1952. In 1952 he was attached to the Dominion Countries UN Organisation Mission. In 1960 was appointed High Sheriff of Northamptonshire. He died in 1979, aged 84.

Regimental details | Commanding Officers