Arthur Henry Seton Hart-Synnot

Arthur Henry Seton Hart-Synnot
Born 19 July 1870
Died 1942 (aged 72)
Allegiance  United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service 1889-1920
Rank Brigadier-General
Unit East Surrey Regiment
Battles/wars Boer War
World War I
Awards Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG)
Companion of the Distinguished Service Order and Bar (DSO & Bar)
Order of the Sacred Treasure, 4th Class
Knight of the Legion of Honour
French Cross of War (1914-1918)

Brigadier-General Arthur Henry Seton Hart-Synnot CMG DSO* FRGS (1870 – 1942)[1] was a British Army general who saw service in Japan, Hong Kong, Burma, India, and the European War of 1914 to 1918.

Early life

Hart-Synnot was from a family with a history of military service, his father being Major General Arthur FitzRoy Hart-Synnot and his uncle, Sir Reginald Hart, had been awarded the Victoria Cross in Afghanistan. He was educated at Clifton and the Royal Military College.[2]

Military career

After passing out from the Royal Military College, Hart-Synnot (then Hart) was commissioned into the East Surrey Regiment as a second lieutenant on 8 October 1890.[3] He was promoted to lieutenant on 7 June 1892 and to captain on 21 June 1899.[4][5] Hart-Synnot passed the Staff College in 1899, and after the Boer War his career took the staff path, first as an Aide-de-Camp to his uncle.[6][7]

In 1904 he was posted to Japan, and between 1907 and 1911 served in Hong Kong.[2][8][9] He was promoted major on 17 March 1909.[10] After a tour in Burma with his regiment (1911–13), he was appointed general staff officer grade 2 (GSO2)[11] at GHQ India on 27 October 1913, where he remained until October 1916, when he returned to Britain.[2]

The Great War was now convulsing Europe, and Hart-Synnot was deployed to France on New Year’s Day 1917. Previously brevetted to lieutenant-colonel, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 17 January 1917.[12] He again served as a GSO2[13][14][15] with the 17th and 40th Divisions. He became a temporary Brigadier-General when he was appointed to command 6th Infantry Brigade on 28 April 1918,[16] where he was severely wounded, losing both legs.[2] In the 1918 King's Birthday Honours he was awarded a Bar to his DSO.[17] The following year, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (CMG) in a special addition to the 1919 Birthday Honours.[18] He was also made a Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur,[19] and awarded the French Croix de guerre.[20] He was placed on the half-pay list and retired as an honorary brigadier-general in 1920 as a result of these wounds.[21][22]

Personal life

While a military observer in Japan during the Russo-Japanese War, Hart-Synnot began an extended love affair with a Japanese woman, Suzuki Masa (1878-1965), by whom he had two sons, Suzuki Kiyoshi (1906-1945) and Suzuki Hideo (1911-1915). In the 1980s, approximately 800 extant letters were discovered in Japan, addressed to Suzuki Masa from Hart-Synnot. This correspondence was the subject of a 2006 biography, The Sword and the Blossom by Peter Pagnamenta.[23]

In 1919, Hart-Synnot married a nurse, Violet Drower (1886-1969), whom he met while convalescing from his wounds. The couple had no children.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Summary of military career
  2. 1 2 3 4 Profile at a Birmingham University website
  3. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 26095. p. 5327. 7 October 1890. Retrieved 2014-05-13.
  4. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 26315. p. 4494. 9 August 1892. Retrieved 2014-05-13.
  5. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27095. p. 4140. 4 July 1899. Retrieved 2014-05-13.
  6. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27517. p. 390. 20 January 1903. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
  7. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27625. p. 8198. 11 December 1903. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
  8. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 28010. p. 2330. 5 April 1907. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
  9. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 28015. p. 2734. 23 April 1907. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
  10. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 28233. p. 2038. 16 March 1909. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
  11. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 28785. p. 9541. 26 December 1913. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
  12. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 29996. p. 2865. 23 March 1917. Retrieved 2014-05-13.
  13. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 30005. p. 3110. 30 March 1917. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
  14. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 30056. p. 4423. 8 May 1917. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
  15. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 30213. p. 7877. 31 July 1917. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
  16. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 30731. p. 6757. 4 June 1918. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
  17. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 30716. pp. 6451–6457. 31 May 1918. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
  18. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 31684. p. 15436. 12 December 1919.
  19. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 30848. p. 9650. 16 August 1918. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
  20. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 31736. p. 701. 13 January 1920. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
  21. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 31762. p. 1341. 30 January 1920. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
  22. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 31772. p. 1661. 6 February 1920. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
  23. ↑ WorldCat Identities Archived 30 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine.: Hart-Synnot, Arthur Henry Seton 1870-1942

Further reading

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