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Brigadier General Lesley James Probyn Butler, CMG, DSO, DL (22 April 1876 – 31 December 1955) was an officer of the Irish Guards.

Military career

Butler was born on 22 April 1876, the son of the 26th Baron Dunboyne. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 3rd (Militia) Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry on 1 December 1899. After the outbreak of the Second Boer War that year, a number of militia battalions were called up for active service. Butler went to South Africa, and on 28 March 1900 was transferred to a commission with a regular battalion in the regiment. For his service in the war, he was awarded the Queen's South Africa Medal with four clasps. He later transferred to the Irish Guards.

Butler served in the First World War from 1914 to 1918, being mentioned in despatches six times and receiving the brevet rank of lieutenant colonel, the Distinguished Service Order in 1916 and being appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1917 Birthday Honours. He retired from the army in 1922.

Personal life

Butler was married in 1907 to Mary Christal, youngest daughter of Sir John Heathcoat-Amory, 1st Baronet; they had one son and two daughters. She died in 1951. He lived at Calverleigh Cottage, Tiverton, Devon, and was a deputy lieutenant for the county. He died on 31 December 1955.

References

1. Hart′s Army list, 1901
2. "No. 27177". The London Gazette. 27 March 1900. p. 2043.
3. ^ Who Was Who 1951–1960, p. 166.

• 1876 births
• 1955 deaths
• Butler dynasty
• Younger sons of barons
• Irish Guards officers
• British Army personnel of the Second Boer War
• British Army generals of World War I
• Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
• Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
• British Militia officers