Sir Alfred Rawlinson, 3rd Baronet

Sir Alfred Rawlinson, 3rd Baronet (born 17 January 1867 - died 1 June 1934) was a British pioneer motorist and aviator [Charles Cyril Turner, "The Old Flying Days", p. 245.] [ [http://www.rcooper.0catch.com/erawlins.htm Sir Alfred Rawlinson ] ] , soldier and intelligence officer, and sportsman. He was known as "Toby".

Life

He was a polo player in the 1900 Summer Olympics. He was part of the Foxhunters Hurlingham polo team which won the gold medal.

He served in the 17th Lancers, but left to become a racing driver. In 1914 he volunteered, and became a chauffeur; he was then transferred to a staff position with IV Corps of the British Expeditionary Force. [Nikolas Gardner, "Trial by Fire: Command and the British Expeditionary Force in 1914", p. 150.] His driving exploits were described in his "Adventures on the Western Front August, 1914 - June, 1915" (1925).

He became a Colonel, and British intelligence officer. Assignments include tours of duty in the Caucasus and Eastern Anatolia during 1918-1922. His mission was to guard the Tiflis-Baku railway, and to oversee the demobilizing Turkish forces. [Merrill D. Peterson, "Starving Armenians": America and the Armenian Genocide, 1915-1930 and After", p. 75.] Under Lionel Dunsterville, he was sent on a mission to the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus. [Moshe Gammer, "The Lone Wolf and the Bear: Three Centuries of Chechen Defiance of Russian Rule", p. 127.]

On his last assignmemt to establish official contact with Mustafa Kemal, he was taken prisoner by the Turkish authorities, placing the British Government in an awkward position, because his elder brother was a highly-placed military man. [Gary Jonathan Bass, "Stay the Hand of Vengeance: The Politics of War Crimes Tribunals", p. 139.] He was released in a prisoner exchange in 1921. His book, "Adventures in the Near East" (1923, Andrew Melrose, London), chronicles the state of affairs during the armistice days at the end of World War I. In particular, he gives accounts of the landscape after the Russian withdrawal and the beginnings of the Turkish nationalist movement.

"The Defence of London, 1915-1918" (1923) was an account of air defence against bombing. [ [http://www.brynmawr.edu/library/speccoll/guides/london/disasters.shtml Books on London - Disasters ] ]

Family

His father was the orientalist Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, 1st Baronet; Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baron Rawlinson, the general, was his brother. His mother Louisa was a daughter of Henry Seymour (of Knoyle), MP; two uncles, Henry Danby Seymour and Alfred Seymour were also MPs. [George Rawlinson, "A Memoir of Major-General Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson", p. 243.]

His second wife was the actress Jean Aylwin. [ [http://www.dgillan.screaming.net/stage/th-frames.html?http&&&www.dgillan.screaming.net/stage/aylwin/aylwin-j.html Stage Beauty ] ]

References

*A. J. Smithers (1978), "Toby. A Real Life Ripping Yarn"
* Rawlinson, A. "Adventures in the Near East 1918-1922" Andrew Melrose, 1923, London

Notes

External links

* [http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=RAWLIALF01 profile]
* [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~usher/ushersct/321.htm The Usher Family of Scotland Sir Alfred RAWLINSON 3rd Bt, CMG (1916), CBE (1919), DSO (1919) ] at freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com