Henry Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce, 7th Baron Thurlow

Major-General Henry Charles Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce, 7th Baron Thurlow, CB, CBE, DSO & Bar (29 May 1910 – 29 May 1971), was a British peer and British Army officer.[1]

Lord Thurlow
Coats of Arms of Henry Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce
Born	29 May 1910
Died	29 May 1971 (aged 61)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	Major-General
Commands held	1st Bn Gordon Highlanders 44 Lowland Brigade 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division British Forces in Malta and Libya
Battles/wars	Second World War
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order & Bar

Military career

Educated at Eton and Sandhurst, Cumming-Bruce was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant into the Seaforth Highlanders in 1930. In 1936, he was attached as ADC to the British High Commissioner for Palestine and Transjordan, General Sir Arthur Grenfell Wauchope, and later Sir Harold MacMichael. During the Second World War, Cumming-Bruce served in a number of capacities in Palestine, Eritrea, and Libya, and in 1944 as Lieutenant Colonel commanding 1st Battalion Gordon Highlanders in North-West Europe and then Brigadier commanding 44 Lowland Brigade, during which he received the DSO. In 1945, Cumming-Bruce was appointed a Bar to the DSO, and installed as Commandant of the British Army of the Rhine's Training Centre, from where he saw out the rest of the War.[1][2]

From 1947 to 1959 he undertook a number of postings as brevet Lieutenant Colonel (1950), Colonel (1952), Brigadier (1958) and then in 1959 Major-General. He succeeded his father as Baron Thurlow in 1952. He served as General Officer Commanding (GOC) 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division and Northumbrian Area from 1959 to 1962, and then GOC of British Forces in Malta and Libya, 1962–63, before retiring in 1964.[2]

Thurlow died on his 61st birthday, and was succeeded in his Barony by the elder of his two younger twin brothers, Francis, then serving as Colonial Governor of the Bahamas.[1]

References

1. A & C Black (1971). "THURLOW, 7th Baron, 1792". Who Was Who, online edition. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
2. Steen Ammentorp. "Biography of Major-General Henry Charles Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce (1910 – 1971), Great Britain". Generals from Great Britain. Retrieved 2012-05-08.

Further reading

• Lt-Col Martin Lindsay, So Few Got Through, London: Collins, 1946. An account of 1st Bn Gordon Highlanders in North West Europe by Sir Martin Lindsay, 1st Baronet, who was Cumming-Bruce's second-in-command.