LANCE SERGEANT (LATER MAJOR) GEORGE PETRE WYMER, GRANDSON OF GENERAL SIR GEORGE PETRE WYMER, BENGAL ARMY, AND SON OF MAJOR GEORGE BANNATYNE WYNER, ROYAL ARTILERY, WHO SAW SERVICE WITH THE NORTHUMBERLAND FUSILIERS, 9TH BATTALION MOUNTED INFANTRY AND MANCHESTER REGIMENT. WYMER HAD PREVIOUSLY SEEN SERVICE AS A LIEUTENANT WITH THE BORDER REGIMENT BUT RESIGNED HIS COMMISSION AND WITHIN A MONTH OF DOING SO ENLISTED INTO THE NORTHUMBERLAND FUSILIERS IN 1896 AS A PRIVATE USING AN ASSUMED NAME, ALTERING HIS NAME TO GEORGE PETER WYMER. A FORMER PUBLIC SCHOOL BOY, WYMER SAW SERVICE FOR 3 YEARS AND 321 DAYS IN THE RANKS AS A "GENTLEMAN RANKER". BY THE TIME THE BOER WAR BROKE OUT IN 1899, WYMER HAD REVEALED HIS CORRECT NAME AND SAW SERVICE IN SOUTH AFRICA AS LANCE-SERGEANT GEORGE PETRE WYMER. IN SOUTH AFRICA, WYMER WAS AWARDED THE DISTINGUISHED CONDUCT MEDAL, MENTIONED IN DISPATCHES AND COMMISSIONED IN THE FIELD FOR GALLANTRY AT REDDESBURGH ON 3RD - 4TH APRIL 1900, WOUNDED IN ACTION AND TAKEN PRISONER OF WAR AT LE CATEAU, 26/8/1914, SERIOUSLY INJURED WHILST SERVING AS ASSISTANT PROVOST MARSHAL IN CHARGE OF MILITARY POLICE IN DUBLIN, 1920-22, DURING THE IRISH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE, AND IN CIVILIAN LIFE, AFTER RETIRING FROM THE ARMY, THE JOCKEY CLUB'S HEAD OF RACECOURSE SECURITY IN ENGLAND, SCOTLAND AND WALES. Six: Distinguished Conduct Medal, Edward VII (officially engraved: 4986. L/Serjt. G.P. WYMER, Northd. Fus.) Queen's South Africa Medal, 3 clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal (officially engraved: Lieut: G.P. WYMER. Manch: Rgt:) King's South Africa Medal, 2 clasps (officially engraved: L(t): G.P. WYMER. Manc. Rgt.). 1914 Star, with original bar on ribbon (officially impressed: CAPT: G.P. WYMER. MANCH: R.) British War and Victory Medals (officially impressed: MAJOR G.P. WYMER.). Scattered edge nicks and contact marks to first three medals, including small edge bruise to King's South Africa Medal, partially obscuring naming details (as indicated), otherwise generally Good Very Fine to Almost Extremely Fine.
Mounted court style, as worn, and contained in a glazed, leather display case. The group also accompanied by an extensive file of research, including 3 pages of documents from Wymers Officers Papers file.
George Petre Leslie Wymer was the son of Major George Bannatyne Wymer (1839-1908), Royal Artillery, and the grandson of General Sir George Petre Wymer, K.C.B., A.D.C. Born in Marylebone, London, on 10/2/1876, he is recorded in the 1881 census as a 5 year old schoolboy resident at 33 The Common, Woolwich, London and in the 1891 census as a 15 year old boarder at Radley College, Abingdon, Berkshire. Wymer was commissioned, 2nd Lieutenant, the 4th (Westmoreland Militia) Battalion The Border Regiment, on 6/2/1895. However, less than two years later, on 29/8/1896 Wymer, who had been promoted Lieutenant in the 4th Battalion Border Regiment in April 1896, resigned his commission. Then, within a month of resigning his commission, on 10/9/1896, Wymer enlisted into the 2nd Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers as a Private, using an assumed name, altering his name to George Peter Wymer. A former public school boy, Wymer saw service in the ranks for 3 years and 321 days with the 2nd Northumberlands as a "gentleman ranker". By the time the Boer War broke out in 1899, Wymer's correct name had been revealed, Wymer seeing service in South Africa as George Petre Wymer, initially as a Lance Sergeant with the 2nd Northumberland Fusiliers from 6/11/1899. In South Africa, possessing the necessary riding skills, Wymer transferred to the newly raised 9th Battalion Mounted Infantry. Wymer was awarded a Distinguished Conduct Medal, mentioned in dispatches and commissioned in the field for gallantry whilst serving with the 9th Battalion Mounted Infantry at the Battle of Reddersburg, 3rd - 4th April 1900, being granted a direct commission from the ranks into the 1st Battalion Manchester Regiment on 5/5/1900 as a 2nd Lieutenant, after having seen service in the ranks for 3 years and 321 days. The following details regarding the action at Reddersburg have been extracted from General Sir Frederick Maurice's "History of the War in South Africa":
The action at Reddersburg took place during the advance on Pretoria followig the capture of Bloemfontein on 13/3/1900. After a brief halt at Bloemfontein, Lord Robert's army recommenced its advance north at the end of March. On 1st April a small column comprising three companies of the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Rifles commanded by Captain W.J. McWhinnie, Royal Irish Rifles, reached Dewetsdorp, the most exposed position in the forward line of the northerly advance into the Orange Free State. The following day two companies of the 9th Mounted Infantry, including Wymer, joined Mawhinnie's column, after having undertaken a forced march of one hundred miles in nintey-six hours from Springfontein. With its Mounted Infantry escort, McWhinnie's column began advancing towards Reddersburg on 2nd April in heavy rain, which turned the track along which they were advancing into a quagmire. Conditions were so difficult that many of the mounted infantry's horses died from exhaustion during the advance. McWhinney's column bivouaced for the night at 6pm that evening and began the advance again at dawn on 3rd April. At about 9am, McWhinnie's column came in sight of a one thousand yard long ridge running parallel to and about one hundred feet higher than the track along which it was advancing. Three spurs, each higher than the ridge, jutted out from its southern side. As McWhinnie's column was advancing in a line parallel to the ridge, it was ambushed by a superior Boer force, some two thousand men under the command of General Cristian DeWet. McWhinnie immediately ordered his mounted infantry to advance and occupy the eastern spur. However, once the eastern spur had been occupied it became obvious to McWhinnie that he needed to instead occupy the western spur, since it commanded all of the surrounding hills and ridges. So he ordered the mounted infantry to now occupy the western spur, whilst his infantry occupied the eastern and central spurs. At this point, DeWet called on McWhinnie to surrender, pointing out that he not only had a superior force, but also had with him a number of guns. McWhinnie refused to surrender, whereupon De Wet ordered artillery to open fire and McWhinnie found himself under fire from four guns, one from the north-east, one from the east and two from the south. At the same time, the Boers, under cover of artillery fire, advanced to within rifle range of McWhinnie's positions. By nightfall, McWhinnie's force had suffered a considerable number of casualties, and of the 12 officers in his column, two had been killed and two severely wounded. In addition, his force was widely scattered with the result that the surviving officers had great difficulty organising the men under their command. Shortly before dawn the next day the mounted infantry on the Western spur came under pressure and were reinforced by twenty infantrymen. As the day progressed, the situation of McWhinney and his men became increasingly difficult, and their water supply ran out. Under cover of darkness that evening the Boers had occupied the top of the ridge, just east of the spur held by the mounted infantry and shortly after 8 o'clock forced their way up the ridge itself and launched an attack on the surviving mounted infantrymen, who surrendered. With the Boers now holding the key position on the battlefield, McWhinney, by now also running short of ammunition, under intense artillery fire and having lost ten officers and men killed and thirty-five wounded, was forced to surrender. After the battle the Boers took five hundred and forty officers and men, including Wymer, prisoner. DeWet lost no time in securing his prisoners, and within two hours of their capture they were being marched off to Winburg. Within a couple of hours of DeWet's withdrawal, a relief column under General Gatacre arrived at Reddersburg, too late to be of assistance. After the action at Reddersburg, DeWet and his men deployed against other advancing British columns, at which point Wymer and the other prisoners were released.
Wymer was subsequently commissioned in the field for gallantry and appointed 2nd Lieutenant, 1st Battalion Manchester Regiment, on 5/5/1900. He was promoted Lieutenant, 23/5/1901 (subsequently ante-dated to 6/5/1901) and returned to England from South Africa on 19/10/1902. Service papers confirm that Wymer also saw action during the Boer War at Stormberg, Bethunie Bridge and during the operations in Cape Colony, the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. For his services in South Africa Wymer was awarded Distinguished Conduct Medal (London Gazette 27/9/1901), mentioned in dispatches (London Gazette 10/9/1901), commissioned from the ranks for gallantry and awarded Queen's and King's South Africa Medals.
Wymer, promoted Captain on 1/4/1909, is recorded in the 1911 census as a 45 year old married army Captain living at Moss Cottage, Manchester Road, Ashton-under-Lyne, Manchester, with his 31 year old wife Margaret and a domestic servant. During WW1, Wymer saw service with the 2nd Battalion Manchester Regiment in France,entering that theatre of operations on 14/8/1914 (When WW1 broke out on 4/8/1914, the 2nd Battalion Manchester Regiment were stationed at the Curragh Camp, Co. Kildare, Ireland. The battalion left the Curragh by train for Dublin on 13/8/1914 and entered the French theatre of operations when it sailed from Dublin for France on 14/8/1914, landing as a unit at Havre on 17/8/1914). Wymer was wounded in action (gunshot wounds to leg and knee) and taken prisoner of war at the battle of Le Cateau, 26/8/1914, whilst commanding "D" Company of the 2nd Manchesters. At Le Cateau, the 2nd Manchesters lost a total of 14 officers and 339 other ranks killed, wounded and missing. Wymer was imprisoned in a number of German p.o.w. camps during WW1, initially at Torgau and subsequently at Burg, Mainz, Friedberg and Clausthal, before being evacuated to Holland for internment on 22/1/1918. Wymer was repatriated to England on 18/8/1918, having been promoted Major, 1/9/1915, whilst still a prisoner of war. On being debriefed following his repatriation, Wymer stated that he had received practically no treatment through being a prisoner for his wounds, whilst a prisoner of war in Germany. Wymer is recorded as having taken part in a number of escape attempts while a prisoner of war, and was mentioned by two other officers in their post-war ex-prisoner of war de-briefs, Lieutenant-Colonel Earle of the Grenadier Guards, confirming that he had written to the US ambassador regarding Wymer having been court-martialed (by the Germans) whilst they were imprisoned together at Friedberg and Captain Sotheran-Estcourt of the Royal Scots Greys confirmed that Wymer had been placed in solitary confinement in Clausthal after he was caught with caricatures of German officers in his possession.
In the post-war years, Wymer was initially appointed Inspector of Prisoner of War Camps, 25/8/1919, before being appointed a Staff Officer attached to Army Headquarters in Dublin, on 25/5/1920, during the Irish war of independence. He was next appointed Assistant Provost Marshal at Dublin Castle in charge of the Military Police in Dublin, on 23/7/1920 and promoted Assistant Provost Marshal Class BB, 7/3/1921. Whilst serving in Dublin as Assistant Provost Marshal, Wymer was severely injured, fracturing his skull, and relinquished his appointment as Assistant Provost Marshal at Dublin on 18/12/1922. Wymer did not recover from his injuries, was placed on half pay on account of ill-health on 26/7/1924 and retired, also on account of ill-health, on 4/11/1925. (For his services during WW1 Wymer was awarded a 1914 Star trio, with clasp).
As a result of his distinguished service in Ireland, commanding military police in Dublin during the Irish war of independence, in 1925 the Jockey Club recruited Wymer as head of race-course security personnel, Wymer being in effect the head of the C.I.D. for the Jockey Club at racecourses in England, Scotland and Wales, tasked with curtailing the activities of the gangs of crooks who infestd racecourses in the years after WW1. Wymer, who was described in the many obituaries published after his death as "the man who smashed the race gangs" and as having been "largely responsible for smashing the gangs of crooks who infested racecourses" was still working on plans to continue his criminal investigations at the time of his death. Wymer was twice married. He married Margaret Grogan (1880-1969) in 1908. They subsequently divorced and in 1925 he married Sophie Dorothea Snepp (1893-1926). Major Wymer died at 78 Ducks Hill Road, Northwood, Middlesex, 5/8/1941, aged 65, leaving an estate valued at £4,740.
Wymer's WW1 Medal Index Card gives his home address as 22 Emperor's Gate, London SW1. His mother, Florence Wymer, is recorded as a 61 year old widow living at the same address in the 1911 census.
Wymer was the son of Major George Bannatyne Wymer (1839-1908). Born 10/12/1839, he was first commissioned Lieutenant, Bengal Artillery, 10/6/1859. When the East India Company's artillery unit was transferred to the British army in 1861, George Wymer transferred to the Royal Artillery, was promoted Captain, 11/12/1872 and retired with the rank of Major.
Wymer's grandfather, General Sir George Petre Wymer, K.C.B., A.D.C. (1788-1868) was born in Reepham, Norfolk, 19/8/1788. He was accepted as a Cadet by the East India Company in 1803 and arrived in India and was commissioned Ensign on 15/8/1804 and posted for service with the 3rd (Bengal) Native Infantry. Wymer was promoted Lieutenant, 21/9/1804, and saw service in the Second Mahratta War in 1805 under General Lake and subsequently in the Nepalese war of 1814-15. He was promoted Captain, 1/8/1818, Major, 11/7/1828, Lieutenant-Colonel 26/9/1833, and was appointed commanding officer of the 38th Bengal Native Infantry, 14/2/1840. He saw service with the 38th Bengal Native infantry during the First Afghan War, 1839-42, with the Kandahar Field Force under General Nott and was present at the siege of Kandahar. For his services in Kandahar he received the thanks of the Governor-General of India, appointed C.B., appointed A.D.C. to Queen Victoria in 1842 and awarded the Order of the Dooranee Empire. Subsequently promoted Major-General, he commanded the 1st Infantry Brigade, Kandahar Field Force from 14/5/1842, tooking part in the relief of Kalat-i-Ghilzai, May-June 1842 and was later Brigadier-General commanding the Gwalior contingent, 1844. He was promoted Major-General 20/6/1854, Lieutenant-General 8/6/1856, and General, 9/9/1863. Wymer was appointed K.C.B. in 1857. General Wymer, who was Colonel of the 107th (Bengal Infantry) Regiment from 30/9/1862, died at Cravenhill Gardens, Hyde Park, London, on 12/8/1868.
Radley College (formally St Peter's College, Radley) is one of four independent, boarding only, senior private schools in the United Kingdom, the others being Winchester College, Harrow School and Eton College. The college was founded in 1847 by William Sewell and Robert Singleton and housed at Radley Hall, built in the 1720's and set in 800 acres of parkland which was landscaped in the 18th century by Capability Brown.
