James Gammell

Lieutenant-General Sir James Andrew Harcourt Gammell, (26 September 1892 – 1 September 1975) was a British Army officer who fought during both the First and Second World Wars.

Early life and military career Born in Edinburgh on 26 September 1892, the son of Sydney James and Alice Stobart, Gammell was educated at Winchester College, followed by the Pembroke College, Oxford, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Scottish Horse in January 1913. He transferred to the Royal Field Artillery on 5 August 1914, the day after Britain entered the First World War. In March 1915, he was awarded the Military Cross (MC): the citation for the medal reads:

Later in the year Gammell fought in the Gallipoli campaign, where he was twice mentioned in despatches and, after this, he spent the rest of the war as a staff officer. He was posted to the HQ of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF), initially as a General Staff Officer Grade 3 (GSO3), later as GSO2 before returning to France in the summer of 1918 and, finally, being sent to England where he was GSO2 at the War Office.

Between the wars Gammell remained in the army after the war, and was married in June 1919 to Gertrude Don. They had four children; James Gilbert Sydney, the eldest, born on 4 March 1920, John Frederick followed, born on 31 December 1921, Mary Finella, born on 15 April 1924, and Elizabeth Alice, the youngest, born on 22 April 1926. After serving as a GSO2 with Aldershot Command in 1924, followed by a promotion to major and a transfer to the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders in May 1927, he served with the 2nd Battalion, Camerons in Edinburgh, followed by a year with the 1st Battalion in Rangoon, Burma before returning to England and returning to the Staff College, Camberley, this time as a GSO2 with the rank of acting lieutenant-colonel, a position he held for five years, from 1930 to 1935. and appointed commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders until 1938, when he attended the Imperial Defence College. Douglas Wimberley succeeded him in command of the battalion. and he assumed command of the 4th Infantry Brigade, part of the 2nd Infantry Division. His new command was stationed in Southern England and had recently fought in France. Gammell's division was assigned to the GHQ Home Forces reserve, and held in readiness in a counterattack role in the event of a German invasion. His corps was tasked with the defence of southern England, although the threat of invasion had receded. He also began training for offensive operations overseas, which included Exercise Tiger in May 1942.

In September 1942, Gammell took over Eastern Command. He was Deputy lieutenant for Angus and, after the death of his first wife, Gertrude (or "G" as he called her), in 1960, he was remarried four years later to Mary Kirkwood, daughter of a Royal Navy officer. Gammell himself died on 1 September 1975, just a few weeks short of his 83rd birthday, and was cremated, with his ashes buried at Alrick.