Damage from enemy anti-aircraft fire sustained by a Farman of No. 3 Squadron RNAS, flown by Reginald Marix with Lt. Knatchbull as observer, June 1915.
Knatchbull was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery on 17 November 1914.[2] He served in the Gallipoli Campaign from April 1915, attached to No. 3 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service, flying artillery spotting missions,[3] receiving promotion to lieutenant on 23 July.[4] On 22 September 1915 he received a mention in despatches from General Ian Hamilton, Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force,[5] and on 8 November was awarded the Military Cross for his "distinguished service in the Field during the operations at the Dardanelles."[6]
Knatchbull was seconded to the staff to serve as an aide-de-camp on 8 June 1916,[7] serving until 20 April 1918,[8] when he was seconded to the Royal Air Force as a Staff Officer, 3rd Class.[9] He was later promoted to the acting rank of captain, and then to acting major on 11 October 1918 when appointed Staff Officer, 2nd Class (Air).[10] On 8 November 1918 he received a mention in despatches from Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig.[11]
After the end of the war, on 1 August 1919, he was granted a permanent commission in the RAF with the rank of lieutenant.[12] However, he was placed on half-pay on 1 April 1920,[13] and on 1 October was placed on the retired list on account of ill-health contracted on active service, with the rank of flight lieutenant.[14]
The grave of The 5th Baron Brabourne at St. John's Churchyard, Kolkata, India.Plaque commemorating the opening of Dr. Graham’s Homes, Kalimpong by Lord Brabourne, Governor of Bengal on 19th May 1938
In June 1938, he was appointed as an Acting Viceroy of India. He served as the Viceroy for four months, as Lord Linlithgow (the then current Viceroy) had gone to England for a short vacation. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the chairman of Indian religion-based political party All-India Muslim League, had a meeting with Brabourne on 16 August 1938 at his residence in Shimla. In the meeting, he requested Brabourne to accept him as the representative of all India's Muslims and in return he promised to support the British at the central assembly, but the Viceroy declined to do so. The Viceroy knew that if Jinnah is made the representative of Muslims, it would be a caution for the image of the British in the vision of other leaders. This angered Jinnah and he later declared Direct Action Day in 1946 to demand for Pakistan. Brabourne served as the Viceroy till 22 October 1938.
^"No. 28976". The London Gazette. 13 November 1914. p. 9384.
^Isaacs, Keith (1990). "Wings Over Gallipoli"(PDF). Australian Society of WW1 Aero Historians. Archived from the original(PDF) on 17 February 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
^"No. 29380". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 November 1915. p. 11736.
^"No. 29354". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 November 1915. pp. 10995–10996.
^"No. 29357". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 November 1915. p. 11027.
^"No. 29698". The London Gazette. 8 August 1916. p. 7787.
^"No. 30712". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 May 1918. p. 6345.
^"No. 30776". The London Gazette. 2 July 1918. p. 7770.
^"No. 30987". The London Gazette. 1 November 1918. p. 12900.
^"No. 31089". The London Gazette (Supplement). 27 December 1918. p. 15232.
^"No. 31486". The London Gazette. 1 August 1919. p. 9870.
^"No. 31851". The London Gazette. 6 April 1920. p. 4143.
^"No. 32078". The London Gazette. 8 October 1920. p. 9815.
^"No. 33993". The London Gazette. 7 November 1933. p. 7187.
^"No. 34451". The London Gazette. 5 November 1937. p. 6889.
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