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Name: LEWIN, Arthur Corrie CB, CMG, DSO (Brigadier-General)

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Nee: son of Frederick T. Lewin DL of Castlegrove, Co. Galway and Cloghans, Co. Mayo

Birth Date: 26 July 1874 Edinburgh

Death Date: 16 Sep 1952 Njoro, Kenya

First Date: 1930

Profession: Professional soldier

Area: 'Kanda Kamu', Njoro, 1925 'Tetanon' Koru, 1930 Nanyuki

Married: 1. In Cape Town 14 Nov 1900 Norah Constance Higgin b. 23 Nov 1872 Ballycarry, Antrim, d. 17 Feb 1931 Nakuru; 2. 6 Mar 1933 Mrs Phyllis Mary Noel Stanning née Marriage (widow of John Stanning) b. 22 Nov 1886 Chorley, Lancs., d. 1960 Rhosneigr, Wales

Children: Patrick William (31 Dec 1903 Belfast-1 July 1965 Nairobi); Thomas Chippendale Colquitt (13 Aug 1907 The Curragh-10 May 1959 London)

Book Reference: EAWL, Debrett, Red 25, Red 31, Hut, EA & Rhodesia, Red 22, Aero, Racing, DSO, Campling, SS, Air, Who's Who

War Service: see below

School: Cheltenham College; Trinity Hall, Cambridge

General Information:

Debrett- Entered the King's (Liverpool Regt.) 1895, became Capt. 1900 and exchanged to 19th Hussars 1905; retired 1908; subsequently Lieut.-Col. Comdg. 3rd Batn. Connaught Rangers (Brevet Col. 1917); again retired 1919; S. Africa 1899-1902 with 1st Mounted Inf. (despatches twice, Queen's Medal with 5 clasps, King's Medal with two clasps, DSO); European War 1914-19 in Dardanelles, Comdg. 5th (Ser) Batn. Wiltshire Regt. and as Brig. Com., and in Mesopotamia Comdg. a Brig. (despatches six times, CMG, CB, Brevet Col., Order of St. Anne of Russia, 1915 Star, two medals); was High Sheriff of Co. Mayo 1912, and Hon. Col. 3rd Batn. Connaught Rangers 1920-22; appointed ADC to HM 1918.  
Letter from John Stanning - '... he certainly fell into the category of "characters". Both he and my mother held pilots' licences, and he owned a succession of aeroplanes. He was second in the King's Cup air race in England at the age of 65. On one occasion, flying out from England, they had a forced landing in the Sudd swamp between Juba and Malakal. They were missing for ten days, finally being spotted by an Imperial Airways captain on a routine flight, and carried out by a party of Dinkas.
My mother, widowed in 1929 by an accident at a level crossing, and in hock to the bank at the time of world recession, nevertheless contrived to educate two children in England, and farmed most efficiently near Nakuru up to the time of her death. After the demise of her second husband she lived alone at Njoro through the Mau Mau troubles.
East Africa & Rhodesia - 20/3/52 - Brigadier-General A.C. Lewin has won the East African Air Rally Derby - at the age of 78. …….. 17/7/52 - ….. Has been awarded the bronze medal of the Royal Aero Club "for his outstanding record of private flying over a number of years." His admirers in East Africa and elsewhere will welcome this tribute to as young a septuagenarian as could be found anywhere.
Learning to fly at the age of 57, he celebrated the award of his pilot's licence by flying solo to Kenya, not as a stunt, but because he wanted to take his aircraft home. Between the wars he repeatedly flew to this country and back again by various routes, once having to land in the Southern Sudan and spend 10 uncomfortable days in the swamps. He has owned 10 aircraft, and has taken part in 6 air races, winning 3, and finishing second in the King's Cup race of 1937. During the last war he flew as a sub-area commander, and later as a welfare officer, in the East Africa Command of the RAF.
Recently he arrived in England on leave from Kenya.
25/9/52 - Brigadier-General Arthur Corrie Lewin, CB, CMG, DSO who had flown back to Kenya from London only a few days previously, died at his home, Kanda Kamu, Njoro, on Tuesday of last week in his 79th year. Soon after he reached England in June on holiday he was found to be suffering from a heart affliction, which kept him abed almost until his departure. Until the last few weeks he had been in his usual robust health, and he retained his natural high spirits and his eager interest in everything and everybody.
Born in Ireland [wrong], the son of the late F.T. Lewin, DL, of Castlegrove, County Galway, and Cloghans, County Mayo, he was educated at Cheltenham College and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and gazetted to The King's Regiment in 1895. He served throughout the South African War with the 1st Mounted Infantry, being twice mentioned in dispatches, awarded the DSO, and made captain. He was seconded to the 19th Hussars in 1905, and later to the 3rd Battalion The Connaught Rangers, of which he assumed command in 1913. He took part in the Dardanelles campaign early in the 1914-18 war, where he commanded the 5th Battalion The Wiltshire Regiment before being promoted brigadier-general of the 40th Infantry Brigade. He was in the final withdrawals from Suvla and Helles, and during the rest of the war served in Mesopotamia, where he commanded the column operating against the Turkish right wing in the final thrust of October, 1918. He was 6 times mentioned in dispatches during the war, and created CMG and CB for his services.
During the advance on Baghdad he was sitting on his horse beside a wagon when it was struck by a Turkish shell. His horse was killed under him but he was unhurt. He turned to a colleague who carried a flask of whisky, took a generous gulp, drank from his own water-bottle and said: "The only way to drink whisky is the way the Scots do it." It was his only comment on his narrow escape. After the war he settled in Kenya. When home on leave in 1931 he learned to fly, and, characteristically, flew solo to East Africa as soon as he had qualified. In succeeding years he did a great deal of flying in East Africa and between Kenya and England, on one occasion having a forced landing in the Southern Sudan and spending 10 days in the Sudd until his wife and he were rescued. For 5 of them they had no food. ……….
Between the wars he was commandant of the Kenya Defence Force, from which he resigned in protest when the then Governor declined to provide what he considered adequate support. He was honorary colonel of the 3rd Connaught Rangers until the regiment was disbanded, and an honorary air commodore in the RAFVR. He had been ADC to the King from 1918 to 1941, and he was honorary colonel of the Kenya Regiment from 1936 to 1949.
While resident in Ireland he had been High Sheriff of County Mayo in 1912, having previously been appointed a Justice of the Peace. He was twice married: 1) in 1900 to Nora Constance Higgin, of Carrickfergus, and 2) in 1933 to Phyllis Mary Noel, widow of John Stanning, who survives him; there were 2 sons by the first marriage, one of whom, Colonel T.C.C. Lewin, was a candidate in the recent general election in Kenya.
General Lewin was one of Kenya's best known and best-loved settlers. His deep but lightly-worn sense of service, his joi de vivre, his Irish wit, his courage, his love of horses, his ready hospitality, an attachment to justice which could turn anger to tolerant acceptance of a policy which he disliked - these were the distinguishing characteristics of a man who will dwell in the memory of all who knew him well. Kenya had no stauncher devotee.
Racing - Owner of 'Resister' - 1930
Racing - Owner of 'Windowsill' - 1930
Racing - Owner of 'Jim Crow' - 1930
DSO - London Gazette 31/10/1902 - In recognition of services during the operations in South Africa ………..{ lots more on his military career} …… he relinquished his commission in 1919. He is a Magistrate for County Galway; was High Sheriff Co. Mayo 1912.
Campling - Arthur Corrie Lewin had been a General with the Connaught Rangers during WW1. In 1930, at the age of 56, he learnt to fly in England and, while training, he met and married Phil Stanning, a widow with a pilot's licence. WW2 saw the Lewins living at their farm of Kandakamu in Njoro, when Lewin was made an Honorary Air Commodore and placed in charge of RAF welfare at Nakuru.
Soldier Settlement Scheme after WW1 - Class B - Brig.-Gen. A.C. Lewin, CB, CMG, DSO, ADC, Castlegrove, Tuam, Co. Galway, Ireland - Farm 901
Air - Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate No. 9957 dated 16 July 1931 - DH Moth 105 hp Gipsy II, Airwork School of Flying

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