{{Short description|British Army officer (1885–1970)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}} {{Infobox military person |honorific_prefix = Brigadier |name = Harold Kingsley |honorific_suffix = CIE DSO |image = |caption = |birth_date = {{Birth date|1885|12|23|df=yes}} |death_date = {{Death date and age|1970|4|15|1885|12|23|df=yes}} |burial_label = |burial_place = |birth_place = |death_place = |burial_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} --> |nickname = |birth_name = |allegiance = {{flag|United Kingdom|23px}} |branch = {{army|United Kingdom}}<br />{{flag|British India|23px}} |service_years = |rank = Brigadier |service_number = |unit = |commands = |battles = |battles_label = |awards = CIE DSO |relations = |other_work = }}
Brigadier '''Harold Kingsley''' CIE DSO (23 December 1885 – 15 April 1970) was Commandant of the Indian Military Academy (1936–1939) and Aide-de-camp to King George VI.<ref name="oup.com">{{Cite web|url-access=subscription|url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-55519|title=Kingsley, Brigadier Harold (Evelyn William Bell), (1885–15 April 1970), late 4th The Prince of Wales's Own Gurkha Rifles|website=WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO|year=2007|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U55519|isbn=978-0-19-954089-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R44XAQAAMAAJ&q=Harold+Evelyn+William+Bell+Kingsley|title=Great Britain and the East|work=google.co.uk|year=1939|access-date=3 July 2015}}</ref><ref>The Times, 14 January 1939</ref><ref name="auto">''Kelly’s Handbook To The Titled, Landed and Official Classes, 1962'', Published by Kelly’s Directories Limited 1962</ref>
==Early life== Harold Evelyn William Bell Kingsley was born 23 December 1885 in Nenagh, Ireland.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ancestry.co.uk|title=Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records at Ancestry.co.uk|work=ancestry.co.uk|access-date=3 July 2015}}</ref> He was the son of Col. William Henry Bell Kingsley CB<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U187844|title=KINGSLEY, William Henry Bell (1835 - 1901), JP for County Tipperary|work=oup.com|date=December 2007|access-date=3 July 2015}}</ref> and his wife, Mrs Kingsley, of River View, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary.<ref name="oup.com"/> He was educated at Bedford Modern School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.<ref name="oup.com"/><ref name="auto"/>
==Career== After Sandhurst, Kingsley joined the Indian Army.<ref name="mocavo.co.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.mocavo.co.uk/The-Half-Yearly-Army-List-for-the-Period-Ending-31st-December-1938-Volume-July-December-1938/665994/55|title=The Half-Yearly Army List for the Period Ending 31st December 1938|work=Mocavo|access-date=3 July 2015}}</ref> He was appointed Captain on 18 January 1914 and Major on 18 January 1920.<ref name="mocavo.co.uk"/> During World War I, Kingsley served in Mesopotamia (1916–18) and in the Balkans (1918).<ref name="oup.com"/> He served in Russia, and Trans-Caspia (1919), the Black Sea and Turkey (1919–20) and Waziristan (1921–24).<ref name="oup.com"/> He was made Colonel in 1933.<ref name="oup.com"/>
Kingsley was Deputy Military Secretary, Army Headquarters, India (1933–36).<ref name="oup.com"/><ref>[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34014/page/318/data.pdf ''The London Gazette'' 12 January 1934, Issue 34014, p. 318]</ref> He was Commandant of the Indian Military Academy between 1936 and 1939 and ADC to the King (1938–39).<ref name="oup.com"/><ref name="mocavo.co.uk"/> He retired in 1939.<ref name="oup.com"/><ref>[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34755/supplement/8389/data.pdf ''Supplement to The London Gazette'', 15 December 1939, Issue 34755, p. 8389]</ref>
==Awards and honours== Kingsley was mentioned in despatches during World War I and on service in Waziristan (1921–24).<ref name="oup.com"/> He was made DSO in 1917 and CIE in 1939.<ref name="oup.com"/>
==Personal life== Kinglsey was a member of the Army and Navy Club.<ref name="oup.com"/> In 1926 he married Hon. Olive Mary Kitson, daughter of James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale; they lived at Warnford House, Warnford, Hampshire.<ref name="oup.com"/><ref>Obituary of Hon. Mrs Harold Kingsley, The Times, 17 June 1964</ref> There were no children from the marriage and Kingsley died in Hampshire on 15 April 1970.<ref name="oup.com"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingsley, Harold}} Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Category:People educated at Bedford Modern School Category:1885 births Category:1970 deaths Category:Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Category:British Indian Army officers Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Category:Indian Army personnel of World War I Category:Commandants of the Indian Military Academy Category:Military personnel from County Tipperary