George Younghusband

George John Younghusband was a cavalry officer and major-general in the British Indian Army.

George John Younghusband was the son of Major-General John William Younghusband was born 9 July 1859,in India. He was educated at Clifton College and Sandhurst, before being commissioned into the 17th Foot in 1878. He later transferred to the British Indian Army's Guides Cavalry and served in several conflicts. Including the Second Afghan War, the Mahdist War, the Third Burmese War, the Second Boer War and finally in the First World War. Where due to wounds received he was forced to retire from the army in 1917.

In his later life he became a noted author, of several books and the Keeper of the Jewel House at the Tower of London, until his death on 30 September 1944, at Crickhowell in Wales.

Early life
George John Younghusband was born on 9 July 1859, at Dharmasala in India. The eldest son of Major-General John William Younghusband and Clara Jane Shaw and the elder brother of Francis Younghusband. He was educated at Clifton College and the Royal Military College Sandhurst. In May 1878, after graduating as the Queen's (India) Cadet, he was commissioned, as a second-lieutenant, into the 17th Foot, on probation for the India Staff Corps. He fought in the Second Afghan War, before transferring to the India Staff Corps, in October 1883.

Indian Army
After joining the Indian Army he was involved in several conflicts in a short period of time. The 1885, Mahdist War, operations on the North West Frontier in 1886, and in the Third Burmese War. His next promotion came in May 1889, when he was promoted to captain. Six years later, in 1895, he was mentioned in dispatches, while serving as the Brigade Major for the 4th Brigade, part of the Chitral relief force. He was further recognized by promotion to brevet major in January 1896. In 1898, he was appointed as a military observer during the Spanish-American War in the Philippines, and in May promoted to substantive major.

Command
Younghusband's first command came during the Second Boer War, when he was promoted to temporary lieutenant-colonel and commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion Imperial Yeomanry. While commanding the battalion he was mentioned in dispatches in 1901. The same year he was promoted to substantive lieutenant-colonel and invested with the Order of the Bath. He left the 3rd to command the 26th (Younghusband's Horse) Battalion Imperial Yeomanry in January 1902, and was again mentioned in dispatches in June.

After that war he was promoted to colonel in April 1905. He was then involved in the 1908 Mohmand expedition. Then in February 1909, was promoted to temporary brigadier-general while serving on the General Staff. In 1909, he became commander of the Fyzabad Brigade, part of the 8th (Lucknow) Division, and the Derajat Brigade from 1911. The same year he was promoted to major-general. He was still in command, when appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1913.

In the First World War, Younghusband was given command of the 28th Brigade, part of the 10th Indian Division. They were initially deployed to defend the Suez Canal. Until 1916, when the brigade was sent to, take part in the Mesopotamia Campaign. First to Aden then moving to Basra. During the subsequent operation Younghusband was again mentioned in dispatches. His last command position was in 1916, as commander of the 7th (Meerut) Division, still in Mesopotamia, but he was forced to relinquish that position due to wounds received.

Family and later life
In March 1917, King George V appointed Younghusband as the Keeper of the Jewel House at the Tower of London. Then in April 1919, the King approved his retirement from the army. He was not entirely finished with the army however and in January 1928, he was appointed the Regimental Colonel of the 10th Queen Victoria's Own Corps of Guides Cavalry (Frontier Force) and of the 5th Battalion, (Queen Victoria's Own Corps of Guides) 12th Frontier Force Regiment.

His son Brigadier George Edward Younghusband, of the 3rd The King's Own Hussars, served with the 2nd Armoured Division during the Second World War.

George John Younghusband died on 30 September 1944, aged eighty-five, at Crickhowell in Wales.

Notable works

 * The Crown Jewels of England
 * Eighteen Hundred Miles on a Burmese Pony
 * Forty Years a Soldier
 * Indian frontier warfare
 * The Jewel House
 * A short history of the Tower of London
 * On short leave to Japan
 * The Philippines and round about, with some account of British interests in these waters
 * Polo in India
 * The Queen's Commission
 * The Relief of Chitral
 * A Soldier's Memories in Peace and War
 * The story of the Guides
 * The Tower from Within
 * The Story of the Guides
 * Exploits of Asaf Khan