View source for Claude Ernest Pert

{{EngvarB|date=December 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Infobox military person
|name = Claude Ernest Pert
|image =
|image_size =
|alt =
|caption =
|birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1898|9|29}}
|death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|1982|3|14|1898|9|29}}
|birth_place =
|death_place =
|placeofburial =
|placeofburial_label =
|placeofburial_co-ordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
|nickname =
|allegiance = United Kingdom
|branch = [[British Indian Army]]
|serviceyears = 1917–1948
|rank = [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]]
|servicenumber =
|unit = [[17th Cavalry]]<br/>[[15th Lancers]]<br/>[[Probyn's Horse]]
|commands = [[Probyn's Horse]]<br/>[[255th Indian Armoured Brigade]]<br/>[[1st Armoured Division (India)]]
|battles = [[World War I]]<br/>{{*}} [[Sinai and Palestine Campaign]]<br/>[[World War II]]<br/>{{*}} [[Burma Campaign]]
|awards = [[Companion of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath]]<br/>[[Commander of the Royal Victorian Order]]<br/>[[Distinguished Service Order]]
|relations =
|laterwork = Manager of the [[Guards Polo Club]]
}}
[[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] '''Claude Ernest Pert''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CB|CVO|DSO|sep=,}} (29 September 1898 – 14 March 1982) was a senior [[cavalry]] officer in the [[British Indian Army]], and [[British India]] [[polo]] champion.

==Biography==
Pert was born 29 September 1898 in British India, the third son of Mr. F. J. Pert of the [[Indian Civil Service (British India)|Indian Civil Service]]. He was educated at [[Clifton College]] from May 1913 to July 1916,<ref>{{cite book |title=Clifton College Register 1862–1925 |page=475 |location=Bristol, UK |publisher=J. W. Arrowsmith |year=1925}}</ref> then trained as an officer at [[Wellington Cantonment|Wellington]] Cadet College in India, and commissioned as a second lieutenant on the Unattached List for the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]] on 18 June 1917.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=2 October 1917 |issue=30319 |page=10180}}</ref> Within a few days, on 23 June, he was admitted into the Indian Army,<ref>{{London Gazette |date=23 July 1918 |issue=30808 |page=8633 |nolink=yes}}</ref> joining the [[17th Cavalry]], and was promoted to lieutenant on 18 June 1918.<ref name="IAL19">{{cite book |title=Indian Army List |date=January 1919}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |date=28 February 1919 |issue=31206 |page=2871 |nolink=yes}}</ref> He was posted away from his regiment to the [[Egyptian Expeditionary Force]] fighting in Palestine, serving with the 2nd Battalion, [[124th Duchess of Connaught's Own Baluchistan Infantry]]<ref name="IAL19"/> and an [[Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade|Imperial Service Cavalry]] unit between 13 August to 31 October 1918.<ref name="YeatsBrown">{{cite book |title=The Star and the Crescent : Being a history of the 17th Cavalry from 1858 to 1922 |first=F. C. C. |last=Yeats-Brown |authorlink=Francis Yeats-Brown |year=1926 |location=[[Allahabad]] |publisher=Pioneer Press |page=311}}</ref>

After the war he returned to his regiment and saw further service in [[Waziristan]] on the [[Military history of the North-West Frontier|North West Frontier]] in 1921,<ref>{{cite book |title=Indian Army List (Supplement) |date=January 1930}}</ref> receiving promotion to captain on 18 June 1921.<ref name="IAL31">{{cite book |title=Indian Army List |date=January 1931}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |date=23 September 1921 |issue=32465 |page=7460 |nolink=yes}}</ref> The 17th Cavalry and the [[37th Lancers]] were amalgamated on 16 February 1922 to form the [[15th Lancers]].<ref name="IAL31"/> Pert married Lillian Katherine Nicholls (died 1980) the same year.

Pert participated in the 1927 [[International Polo Cup]],<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,723254,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125033731/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,723254,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 November 2010 |title=The Polo Begins |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=5 September 1927 |accessdate=12 April 2011 |url-access=subscription  |quote=No. 1. Capt. Claude Ernest Pert, 29, Army-in-India player, rugby player, boxer, War veteran}}</ref> playing for the United Kingdom against the United States at [[Meadowbrook Polo Club|Meadow Brook]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.polomuseum.com/files/attachments/2016_historical_tournament_pages.pdf |title=Historical Tournament Results |year=2016 |work=[[United States Polo Association]] |page=208 |accessdate=8 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211155314/http://www.polomuseum.com/files/attachments/2016_historical_tournament_pages.pdf |archive-date=11 February 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

He served as [[adjutant]] of the Governor of Bombay's Bodyguard from 1928 to 1930,<ref name="YeatsBrown"/> and was promoted to major on 18 June 1935.<ref name="IAL37">{{cite book |title=Indian Army List |date=October 1937}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |date=26 July 1935 |issue=34184 |page=4846 |nolink=yes}}</ref> In 1937 he was part of the polo team who won the [[Roehampton Trophy]].

In 1937 the 15th Lancers were converted to a training regiment and he transferred to [[Probyn's Horse (5th King Edward VII's Own Lancers)]] on 31 August 1937,<ref name="IAL37"/> where he was appointed temporary second-in-command on 1 October 1939.<ref>{{cite book |title=Indian Army List |date=April 1940}}</ref> He was promoted to the [[acting rank]] of lieutenant-colonel as [[Commanding Officer]] of Probyn's Horse on 1 March 1941.<ref>{{cite book |title=Indian Army List |date=April 1942}}</ref>

He was appointed temporary lieutenant-colonel on 1 June 1941,<ref name="IAL43">{{cite book |title=Indian Army List |date=October 1943}}</ref> receiving promotion to the substantive rank on 18 June 1943,<ref>{{London Gazette |date=29 October 1943 |issue=36227 |page=4780 |nolink=yes}}</ref> though this was later cancelled and then backdated to 3 September 1942.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=17 November 1944 |issue=36800 |page=5293 |nolink=yes}}</ref> He was appointed acting colonel on 11 March 1943.<ref name="IAL43"/>

Later he was appointed second-in-command of the [[251st Indian Tank Brigade]],<ref>{{cite book |title=Indian Army List |date=July 1943}}</ref> and in November 1943 commanding officer of the [[255th Indian Armoured Brigade]], a post he held until May 1945.<ref>{{cite book |title=Indian Army List |date=April 1945}}</ref> He was appointed temporary colonel on 28 February 1944, and temporary brigadier on 1 February 1945.<ref name="AL47">{{cite book |title=Army List |date=April 1947}}</ref> He was awarded the [[Distinguished Service Order]] "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Burma" on 24 May 1945, ranked as temporary brigadier, [[Indian Armoured Corps]].<ref>{{London Gazette |date=22 May 1945 |supp=y |issue=37091 |page=2651 |nolink=yes}}</ref>

Appointed acting major-general on 31 May 1945,<ref>{{London Gazette |date=6 November 1945 |supp=y |issue=37341 |page=5463 |nolink=yes}}</ref> he served as the [[General Officer Commanding]] [[1st Armoured Division (India)|1st Armoured Division]] of the Indian Army. He received a [[mention in dispatches]] on 19 July 1945 for his service in Burma, as a temporary colonel, Indian Armoured Corps.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=17 July 1945 |supp=y |issue=37184 |page=3753 |nolink=yes}}</ref> Pert was appointed Director of Armoured Fighting Vehicles on 7 June 1946,<ref name="AL47"/> and promoted to colonel on 11 February 1947.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=25 November 1947 |supp=y |issue=38134 |page=5637 |nolink=yes}}</ref>

He was made a [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]] on 14 August 1947, ranked as a colonel (temporary major-general), Probyn's Horse.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=30 December 1947 |supp=y |issue=38161 |page=4 |nolink=yes}}</ref> He retired from the army on 31 August 1948,<ref>{{London Gazette |date=3 September 1948 |issue=38395 |page=4816 |nolink=yes}}</ref> and was granted the honorary rank of major-general.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=31 August 1948 |supp=y |issue=38394 |page=4807 |nolink=yes}}</ref>

In retirement he served as the manager of the [[Guards Polo Club]] from 1957 to 1975. The club now awards the "Claude Pert Cup" in his honour.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.guardspoloclub.com/tournaments/the-archie-david-caterham-and-claude-pert-cups/ |title=The Pommery Archie David, Caterham and Claude Pert Cups |work=Guards Polo Club |accessdate=8 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120803233731/http://www.guardspoloclub.com/tournaments/the-archie-david-caterham-and-claude-pert-cups/ |archive-date=3 August 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

He was appointed a Commander in the [[Royal Victorian Order]] on 1 January 1976.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=30 December 1975 |supp=y |issue=46777 |page=4 |nolink=yes}}</ref>

He died on 14 March 1982.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{cite web |url=http://www.generals.dk/general/Pert/Claude_Ernest/Great_Britain.html |title=Claude Ernest Pert |work=generals.dk}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pert, Claude Ernest}}
[[Category:1898 births]]
[[Category:1982 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at Clifton College]]
[[Category:British polo players]]
[[Category:Indian polo players]]
[[Category:Roehampton Trophy]]
[[Category:International Polo Cup]]
[[Category:British Indian Army generals]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Indian Army generals of World War II]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order]]