Richard Edgar Sugden

Richard Edgar Sugden (‘R.E.’) was the son of Richard Sugden, director of Thomas Sugden & Son, corn millers, of Brighouse in the West Riding of Yorkshire. ‘R.E.’’s rugged physique was well suited to Rugby football, at which he captained Brighouse Rangers and played for Yorkshire (1895-6). His temperament was equally rugged. He volunteered for the Imperial Yeomanry towards the end of 1899 and served in the South African War, where he was commissioned from the ranks. He maintained his ‘amateur’ military connection after the South African War and by August 1914 was OC ‘A’ Company, 4th Battalion Duke of Wellington’s Regiment TF.

He went to war as 2i/c 4th Duke’s in May 1915 as part of 147th Brigade, 49th (West Riding) Division TF. He was wounded in September 1915 near Ypres, but was able to return to the battalion in November. He became CO 4th Duke’s on 4 September 1916 on the Somme. He commanded the battalion, winning two DSOs, until his promotion to brigadier-general on 7 June 1918 as GOC 151st Brigade, 50th (Northumbrian) Division TF. 50th Division had been virtually destroyed in the spring fighting, suffering the highest casualties of any British formation.

Although Sugden was a Territorial in a nominally Territorial division none of the battalions in his completely reconstituted brigade was Territorial. After several weeks of intense training, 151st Brigade and its parent formation were able to return to the fray, performing well in operations from the beginning of October until the Armistice.

Brigadier-General Sugden remained in the Territorial Army after the war and commanded 147th (2nd West Riding) Brigade until his retirement in 1926. He also played a full part in the family firm and became a leading social figure in his native town. His elder son, Lieutenant P G Sugden, was killed in action in 1943.