William Horwood (police Commissioner) - Military Career

Military Career

Horwood was born in Broadwater (now part of the town of Worthing) in Sussex and was educated at Highgate School. At the age of 20, he was commissioned into the 5th Lancers. He married Violet Fife (1864/65–1941) on 27 April 1897; they had one daughter. On 27 January 1900, as a Lieutenant, he transferred to the Reserve of Officers. Later that year he was appointed adjutant and recruiting officer of the 49th Regimental District, and in 1902 became Brigade Major of the 24th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. In 1904, he became an administrative officer at the War Office in London and stayed there until 1910. The following year, he became Chief of Police of the North Eastern Railway.

On the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Horwood was recalled to the Army and appointed a Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General at the War Office. In 1915, he went to France as Provost Marshal of the General Headquarters of the British Expeditionary Force. He remained in this post until the end of the war, being awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) on 4 June 1917 and being appointed Companion of the Bath (CB) on 1 January 1919. He was also mentioned in dispatches seven times and was awarded the by both France and Belgium. He was also an Officer of the French Légion d'honneur, an Officer of the Order of Léopold and the Order of the Crown of Belgium, a Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog of Denmark, a 2nd Class Member of the Order of the Rising Sun of Japan, a Grand Cordon of the Order of the Crown of Romania, a member of the Order of the Crown of Italy and of the Order of the Star of Ethiopia. Horwood ended the war as a substantive Captain, Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel and temporary Brigadier-General.