The Right Honorable Sir Wilfred Russell Bailey, D.S.O. was the third Baron Glanusk, known as Lord Glanusk, the eldest son of the second Baron Glanusk. He became Lord Glanusk, 3rd Baron Glanusk after the death of his Father 11 Jan 1928.
He married 27 Feb 1919 Victoria Mary Enid Anne Dugdale. This was dissolved and he married Margaret Eldrydd Shoubridge 17 March 1942.
He was awarded Officer in the Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem 21 Jun 1932 and on 12 May 1937 he attended the Coronation of King George VI.
He was at times President of the Territorial Army Association and Chairman of the ARP committee.
| Unit or location | Role | Posted from | until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coleshill House, GHQ | Commanding Officer Auxiliary Units | 11 Feb 1942 | 03 Apr 1943 |
Ludgrove School, New Barnet
Eton College - Eton College Rifle Volunteers, Officer Training Corps, Eton College
1910-11 Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, Camberley
Army Officer
4 Feb 1911 - Commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, Grenadier Guards, posted to 1st Battalion, London
28 Sept 1912 - Promoted Lieutenant
1913 - Range finder course. Hythe
1914 - Musketry course, Hythe
12 Sept 1914 – 11 Nov 1918 - Served in France and Belgium. Embarked for UK with 1st Battalion, Romford
12 Sept 1914 - Embarked for British Expeditionary Force, posted to 2nd Battalion, France
16 Sept 1914 - Joined 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards, France
12 Nov 1914 - Appointed Adjutant, 2nd Battalion
22 May 1915 - Mentioned in dispatches. Awarded Distinguished Service Order. Awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). "Captains Bailey and Harcourt-Vernon led a Company out of the trench with great dash. They led by at least 50 yards and shot many of the enemy with their revolvers. About 60 of the enemy were accounted for mainly with the bayonet and 42 made prisoners."
15 July 1915 - Promoted Captain
15 Sept 1916 - Relinquished Adjutancy, 2nd Battalion
16 Sept 1916 - Appointed 2nd in Command, 2nd Battalion with acting rank of Major
19 June 1918 - Joined 1st Battalion
7 Aug 1918 - Posted to 1st Battalion, as 2nd in Command, retaining the rank of Major
24 Aug 1918 - Wounded (slight) France
11 Oct 1918 - Relinquished Acting rank of Major
12 Oct 1918 - Posted to command of 1st Battalion, with temporary rank of Lieutenant Colonel
1918 - Senior Officers course, Fort Mahon
11 Jan 1919 - Awarded Clasp to DSO
28 Jan 1919 Awarded Croix de Guerre
After WW1 he was awarded the British War Medal, Victory Medal and 1914 Star and Clasp. He was Mentioned in Dispatches 5 times.
9 March 1919 - Relinquished temporary rank of Lieutenant Colonel, Romford. Ceases to command 1st Battalion, Romford
12 Dec 1919 - Brevet of Major
8 April 1921 - Appointed to Reserve of Officers as Major seniority
1922 - Artillery Course (short Course) Larkhill
29 Sept 1923 - Promoted Major
1923 - Small arms school, Hythe
2 Feb 1924 - Retires with gratuity
18 Apr 1934 To be Honorary Colonel of 3rd Battalion Monmouth Regiment, Territorial Army Reserve of Officers
30 Dec 1939 - Transferred to Regular Army reserve of Officers, Welsh Guards with effect from 30/9/1939 and retain rank of Major with present seniority. He was appointed to command the Training Battalion of the Welsh Guards, initially at Roman Way Barracks in Colchester. He was frustrated that the Colonel of the Welsh Guards refused to consider him for any active role, despite his extensive experience in the First World War. They moved after Dunkirk to Sandown Park Racecourse in Esher. Lord Delamere was with him here and would later also join Auxiliary Units.
17 Oct 1939 - Joined training Battalion. Acting Lieutenant Colonel to be Temp Lieutenant Colonel with effect from 30 Dec 1939
27 June 1941 - Due for removal – age limit – retained under ? 5220
9 Feb 1942 Beatrice Temple records in her diary the news of his appointment on 9 Feb and met him at Coleshill House accompanied by Colonel Major on 11 Feb. Reportedly he had arrived in his Rolls Royce. He brought in fellow officers from the Guards Brigade and it did not take long before drill was added to the training schedule. He used his influence with GHQ Home forces to improve the Special Duties establishment.
11 Feb 1942 Appointed Commander Auxiliary Units replacing Colonel Major.
23 Feb 1942 - Relinquishes appointment as Officer commanding Training Battalion, Welsh Guards. Retains Temp Lieutenant Colonel. Appointed Commander Auxiliary Units, Home Forces and assumed duty, granted rank Acting / Colonel. Assumed Appointment Commander Auxiliary Units, GHQ Home Forces.
3 May 1942 Beatrice Temple records that he attended a farewell dinner for Junior Commander Barbara Culleton at Hannington Hall, the billet for the ATS staff.
3 April 1943 posted to No 5 Guards training Battalion
30 April 1943 - Posted to Training Battalion, Welsh Guards,
7 May 1943 - Relinquishes temp rank of Colonel
11 May 1943 - Posted (rifle pool) 21 Infantry Training Centre in subs rank
15 May 1943 - To relinquish on ? of medical unfitness. Posted to regimental HQ, Welsh Guards, and await medical board.
13 Oct 1943 Lieutenant Colonel Lord Glanusk ceased to belong to the Reserve of Officers due to ill health. Given the Honorary Rank of Colonel. Lord Glanusk had suffered a heart attack.
6 Sept 1943 - Relegated to unemployment
29 Dec 1944 He attended the dinner for members of the Monmouthshire Auxiliary Unit Patrols which was not far from his home on the Glanusk Estate near Abergavenny. He can be seen in the centre of the group photograph taken then.
1 Oct 1946 - Exceeded the age limit of recall, ceased to belong Regular Army reserve of Officers, granted Hon rank of Colonel
Obituary from The Times, Tuesday, Jan 13, 1948; page. 6; Issue 50967; column G
LORD GLANUSK
LORD LIEUTENANT OF BRECONSHIRE
Lord Glanusk, Lord Lieutenant of Breconshire, died suddenly of heart failure yesterday at the age of 56 at his home near Crickhowell, Breconshire, one day more than 20 years after his father died in the act of opening the Brecon County War Memorial Hospital.
The Right Hon. Sir Wilfred Russell Bailey, D.S.O., third Baron Glanusk of Glanusk Park, in the County of Brecon in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, and a Baronet, was the eldest son of the second Baron Glanusk and was born on June 27, 1891. Educated at Eton and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, he was commissioned in the Grenadier Guards and served throughout the 1914-18 was with his regiment. He was mentioned six times in dispatches, was twice wounded, and received the D.S.O. in 1916, to which a bar was added later. In 1918 he rose to the command of the first battalion of the Grenadier Guards, and retired from the Army in 1924 with the rank of Major.
He took a keen interest in the Boy Scout movement for many years and played a prominent part in local government in South Wales, having served on the Brecon County Council and as Chairman of the Brecon Standing Joint Committee. During the 1939-45 war he was re-employed and commanded for a time the training battalion of the Welsh Guards. He had been Lord Lieutenant of the county since 1928 and was appointed Honorary Colonel of the third Battalion of The Monmouthshire Regiment in 1934 and of the Brecknock Battalion of The South Wales Borderers in 1939.
He was twice married, first in 1919 to Victoria Mary Enid Anne, daughter of Colonel Frank Dugdale, C.V.O. There were no children of the marriage, which was dissolved in 1939. He married secondly in 1942 Margaret Eldrydd, daughter of the late Major General T. H. Stoubridge, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., by whom he had one daughter. The family honours descend to his cousin, Lieutenant David Russell Bailey, R.N., son of the Hon. Herbert Crawshay Bailey, fourth son of the first Lord Glanusk.
The Times, Tuesday, Jan 13, 1948
When the Grass Stops Growing, Carol Mather