Harold Wernher

Major-General Sir Harold Augustus Wernher, 3rd Baronet, GCVO, TD (16 January 1893 – 30 June 1973) was a British military officer and diamond magnate.

Major-General

Sir Harold Wernher

Bt GCVO TD
Wernher in 1948
Born(1893-01-16)16 January 1893
Died30 June 1973(1973-06-30) (aged 80)
Luton, Bedfordshire, United Kingdom
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
RankMajor-General
Service number43053
Battles/warsSecond World War
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1917)​
ChildrenGeorge Wernher
Georgina, Lady Kennard
Myra, Lady Butter

Life and career

Wernher was born on 16 January 1893 the second son of Sir Julius Wernher, 1st Baronet, and his wife, Alice Sedgwick Mankiewicz. His father was a German-born Randlord and his mother was of Polish-Jewish ancestry. He reached the rank of major-general during World War II, and he played an important role in coordinating the logistics of Operation Overlord.

Second World War

In September 1943, Sir Harold was appointed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill as Co-Ordinator of Ministry and Science Facilities (CMSF), in charge of overseeing the construction of all the Mulberry Harbour components.[1]

In 1948, he inherited the Wernher baronetcy from his elder brother, Sir Derrick Wernher (1889–1948), who had no male heir. He had previously inherited Luton Hoo after his father's death in 1912.

He died in 1973 at Luton, Bedfordshire, and as he did not have any surviving male heir, the baronetcy became extinct. To avoid death duties, the Wernher estate donated the Wernher Triptych to the British Museum.[2]

Marriage and children
Wernher's wife, Countess Anastasia Mikhailovna de Torby

On 20 July 1917, Wernher married Countess Anastasia Mikhailovna de Torby, the eldest child of Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia and his morganatic wife, Countess Sophie Nikolaievna of Merenberg, first in a Russian Orthodox ceremony in the chapel of the Russian Embassy in Welbeck Street then in an Anglican ceremony in the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace attended by King George V and Queen Mary.[3] They had three children:

His descendants include the 7th Duke of Westminster and the heirs apparent to the dukedom of Abercorn and the earldom of Dalhousie.

Arms
Coat of arms of Harold Wernher
Crest
Between two elephant's trunks the dexter per fess Gules and Or and the sinister per fess Or and Gules a lozenge Sable thereon a mullet as in the arms.[5]
Escutcheon
Gules the head of a grappling iron in saltire Argent issuing from the base a mount Vert and in the dexter and sinister base a mullet of six points Or.

References
  1. Wernher, Harold (1950). World War II: Personal Experiences. Privately Published.
  2. Triptych/religious/ritual equipment, britishmuseum.org; retrieved 10 December 2013.
  3. "Wedding of Countess Anastasia de Torby and Major-General Sir Harold Wernher". World War One: Great War Stories. The Culture Trust. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  4. "George Michael Alexander Wernher". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  5. Burke's Peerage. 1949.
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