there is a fair bit about them in 'Dead Men Risen' by Toby Harnden (2011). amazing stories and a brilliant book about Afghanistan in it's own right. best i've read about the place. both survived the Sir Galahad attack. but still not as long in service as some of the men and women mentioned here!
http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/47702-lieutenant-colonel-john-keating-obe/?p=561939 Lt Col Keating OBE enlisted in the Irish Guards in 1920. He served with the 2nd Armd Bn during WW2 as QM. By 1954 he'd made his way up to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Retiring in 1957, he was however still holding an appointment two years later when he died.
I think we are all looking in the wrong period. As only one example, see James Barry, commissioned 1813 and retired 1864. That seems to me to add up to 51 years of service. There are several others of that era who seem to have had about 1/2-century of service.
The Army and Militia List 1863 showing length of service for regimental and other employed officers: (random page)4th Kings Own Regiment of Foot. (Active lists ? most are on full pay and not retired list) http://archive.org/stream/newannualarmylis1863hart#page/225/mode/2up 1st (The Royal) Regiment of Foot: Cornet Edward Blakeney 28 February 1794 - Field Marshal Rt Hon Sir Edward Blakeney 9 November 1862. Colonel 1st Foot 1863.He died at Clifton on 21 February 1865. http://archive.org/stream/newannualarmylis1863hart#page/218/mode/2up"]http://archive.org/stream/newannualarmylis1863hart#page/218/mode/2up[/url][/url][/url All are of continuous service - Stapleton - The Viscount Combemere 2nd Lt 20 Feb 1790 - Field Marshal 20 Oct 1855 Colonel 1st Life Guards still in office 1863. 73rd year of service.
A friend recently showed me a picture of a CWGC headstone, of a Chelsea Pensioner, which I think showed he died when he was 103.
Samuel Hood joined the RN in 1741, and relinquished his last sea going post, Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, in 1794. He was Governor of the Royal Naval Hospital at Greenwich in London from 1796 until his death in 1816. That's 75 years of service if the hospital governorship is counted as a military post, and 53 years as a sea-going officer. His younger brother Alexander also joined the RN in 1741, and commanded the Channel Fleet until 1800, so had 59 years service. The longest that I can find for somebody whose service was at least partly in the 20th Century is by Jackie Fisher. He joined the RN on 13 July 1854, joining his first ship on 29 July. He resigned from his second spell as First Sea Lord on 15 May 1915, two months short of 61 years service in the RN. He was retired from 1911-14, but chaired the Royal Commission on Fuel and Engines, considering the RN's adoption of oil and how to obtain secure oil supplies, and acted as an adviser to Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty, during that period.
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Provo Wallis, born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 12 April 1791, was borne on the books of HMS Oiseau in 1795, when he was 4 years old. He actually went to sea for the first time on HMS Cleopatra in 1805. His last sea going appointment, as C-in-C on the south east coast of South American, ended in 1857, but he was technically still a serving officer until he died on 13 February 1892. He was on the active list for 96 years, with 52 years of actual service. He is best known for being the senior unwounded officer of HMS Shannon when she captured the USS Chesapeake in 1813. Consequently he commanded Shannon when she escorted the Chesapeake into his home town of Halifax. http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=6485 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provo_Wallis
My late Father was in for 22 years, 1940-1962, then they kicked him out as 22 yrs was when you got the Army pension, which was not much anyway. He was a WO2. And with 22 years service one could apply for the Royal Hospital Chelsea, he always threatened that he could get a bed there, but never made it, passing away aged 55 in 1975 gone to the big Wo's & Sgts Mess in the sky.
If you include the Royal Family, Admiral of the Fleet, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh must have close on 80 yeas service, 70+ at least.
Not certain how and if his years match some others however this man who died at an early age (56) gave continual service to Great Britain. BORN IN AUSTRALIA AND HIS FATHER OWNED A BREWERY! First Air Force Member and first Australian to be appointed to the position of Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod in the House of Lords. MITCHELL, SIR WILLIAM GORE SUTHERLAND (KCB (CB (CBE) (DSO) (MC) (AFC) (MID******) Air Chief Marshal Last Post: London ATC Death: 16/08/1944 Age: 56 RAF UK WANDSWORTH (PUTNEY VALE) CEMETERY UK London The link below makes interesting reading and shows his full biography and full military service history. http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/19223-raf-australians-killed-ww2-who-and-what-i-have-found-so-far/?p=228858
Wills Apropos Montgomery......... Field Marshal BL Montgomery 1908 - 1958 (Active List) I remember when he retired he insisted on drawing his old age pension, claiming he had paid for it all his life ! http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/allanmassie/100067666/the-elderly-have-contributed-to-the-state-all-their-life-the-winter-fuel-allowance-is-the-least-they-deserve/ Ron
Field Marshall Lord Roberts of Kandahar VC Hood may have been the govenor of the naval hospital but Bobs died on active service sixty years after joining the army. Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts VC KG KP GCB OM GCSI GCIE KStJ VD PC (30 September 1832 – 14 November 1914) was a British soldier who was one of the most successful commanders of the 19th century. He served in the Indian rebellion, the Expedition to Abyssinia and the Second Anglo-Afghan War before leading British Forces to success in the Second Boer War. He also became the last Commander-in-Chief of the Forces before the post was abolished in 1904.Roberts died of pneumonia at St Omer, France, on 14 November 1914 while visiting Indian troops fighting in the First World War. He is commemorated in the CWGC records as any other soldier who died on active service in WW1. http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/384527/ROBERTS,%20Sir%20FREDERICK%20SLEIGH
Indeed Ron: The field marshal was not a wealthy man - if not for the generous gifts - New Zealand, Canada and Australia had chipped in with the timber, which was the mill's main distinction. Floors, doors, staircase, cupboards and wardrobes were all composed of unstained Empire woods, and local craftsmen had knitted them together in a wonderful exhibition of English joinery. The design, with one great sweeping room on the ground floor, was not to everyone's taste, but it was his without advice or interference from anyone else. Islington Mill near Alton Hampshire. A mile or so from Enham Alamein Church. The Army Lists of the 1850s (to take one decade) are replete with Regimental Colonels still on the active paid list with 70 or more years service. The Royal Regiment (1st Foot) the colonel who served 73 years from ensign to promotion to glory!
From Liverpool Evening Express 22 June 1942: "Mr. William O'Sullivan the father, joined the Army in 1897 at the age of 12, went to Africa in 1898 and served in the Boer War. He was recalled to the Royal Artillery in 1914 and served until 1919. In October, 1939, he joined the King's Regiment (Liverpool)."
That indeed is amazing, serving in the Boer War, the First and second World War and then going to Africa at the age of 113!
Pte. Carter, over 47 years service with The King's Shropshire Light Infantry & ten good conduct badges to boot. Not bad for a Pte.
