Thomas, 5th Earl of Longford Pakenham

Rank:	Brigadier-General
Street:
Townland:	Tullynally Castle
Town/Village:	Castlepollard, Co. Westmeath
Civil Parish:
Catholic Parish:
Country:
Alternative Address:
Census 1901:	Tullynally Castle www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Westmeath/Coolure/Pakenhamhall_or_Lullynally/1778792/
Census 1911:	44 Bryanstan Square, London West & Penn House, Penn Street, Amersham, Buckinghamshire
Regiment/Unit:	2nd (South Midland) Mounted Brigade
Regiment Number:
Date of Death:	21-08-1915
Cause:	Killed in action, Scimitar Hill
Memorial:	Green Hill Cemetery, Gallipoli, Turkey
Information:	Thomas Pakenham, 5th Earl of Longford, K.P., M.V.O. was born 19 October 1864. He married Lady Mary Julia Child Villiers (daughter of the 7th Earl of Jersey). They had 6 children: Edward, Frank, Violet, Mary, Pansy and Julia. Following the outbreak of the Second Boer War in late 1899, Lord Longford was instrumental in forming a company of volunteers from the Irish Hunt for the Imperial Yeomanry, serving in South Africa. During the First World War Lord Longford commanded the 2nd South Midland Mounted Brigade of the 2nd Mounted Division, a yeomanry formation, with the rank of Brigadier-General. On 21 August 1915 the Division was in reserve for the final attack on Scimitar Hill. When the initial attack by the 29th Division failed, the yeomanry were ordered to advance in the open across a dry salt lake. Raked by shrapnel fire, most of the brigades halted in the shelter of Green Hill but Longford led his brigade in a charge which captured the summit of the hill. As he continued to advance, he was killed. His last words before his death were, reputedly "Don't bother ducking, the men don't like it and it doesn't do any good....". however his body was never recovered. It was believed to be burnt in scrub ignited by enemy fire.
Parents Names:	Son of William Lygon Pakenham, 4th Earl of Longford and the Hon. Selina (née Rice-Trevor)
Notes:	The Earl of Longford had a large tattoo of the Pakenham coat-of-arms on his chest, which his wife implored the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to look for in the search for his body. The original date of death was 21 May 1915. Upon further research it has now changed to August 1915.
Links:	Link to CWGC;