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Roderick Sinclair, 19th Earl of Caithness

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The Earl of Caithness
Brigadier James Sinclair
Born(1906-09-29)29 September 1906
Died8 May 1965(1965-05-08) (aged 58)
Allegiance United Kingdom
 Ceylon
Service / branch British Army
Ceylon Army
Years of service?-1955
RankBrigadier
Service number36869[1]
UnitGordon Highlanders
Commands153rd Infantry Brigade
Commander of Ceylon Army
51st Infantry Brigade
Battles / warsWorld War II
RelationsLord Berriedale (son)

Brigadier James Roderick Sinclair, 19th Earl of Caithness, CVO, CBE, DSO (29 September 1906 – 8 May 1965) was a British Army officer during World War II and was also chief of Clan Sinclair.

Sinclair joined the Gordon Highlanders and rose to the rank of Brigadier and as such led his regiment (part of the 51st (Highland) Division) through France, Belgium, the Netherlands into Germany during World War II and was decorated with the Distinguished Service Order and made Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Guard of Honor for Brigadier James Sinclair, Earl of Caithness, held by Major B.R. Heyn.

In 1949 he was appointed the first Commander of the Ceylon Army and played a major role in establishing it as a regular army from the volunteer Ceylon Defence Force till 1952. On returning to the UK he was given various postings in England and Scotland before in 1955 being appointed land agent and manager of Her Majesty The Queen's private Estate at Balmoral Castle, Aberdeenshire where he lived until his death. After leaving the army, he was appointed Colonel of his old Regiment the Gordon Highlanders.[2]

Sinclair succeeded his sonless paternal uncle as 19th Earl of Caithness.

His first wife, by whom he had three daughters (Jean, Margaret and Fiona), died during the war and after it, in 1946, he married a widow Gabrielle Ormerod (1912–1990), whose husband had been killed on active service in Africa leaving her with a daughter (Susie). In 1947 while posted to Germany another daughter (Bridget), was born and the next year in Burma, Malcolm, Lord Berriedale was born. Upon his death on 8 May 1965,[3] his son Lord Berriedale became the 20th Earl of Caithness and chief of Clan Sinclair.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "No. 37853". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 January 1947. p. 325.
  2. ^ "Past Army Commanders". Sri Lanka Army. Archived from the original on 30 August 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  3. ^ "Caithness, 19th Earl of, cr 1455 (James Roderick Sinclair) (Baron Berriedale, 1455; Bt 1631)". WHO WAS WHO 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
[edit]
Military offices
New post Commander of the Ceylon Army
1949–1952 		Succeeded by
Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by Earl of Caithness
1947–1965 		Succeeded by
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