Colonel E. Thomas Humphreys
1st Bn., Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians)

The officers of the First Battalion, Leinster regiment, known from their historical connection with the Dominion as the Royal Canadians, which regiment has just disbanded after presenting their colors to the King at Windsor Castle, are giving their regimental plate and trophies in trust to the Canadian Government “until the regiment is again raised, as a token of their regards for the Great Dominion, which gave birth to the battalion.”

(The Expositor, 29 Jun 1922, 1)

Born in London in Dover, Kent on 5 November 1878, Edward Thomas Humphreys graduated from Sandhurst in 1898 and was  commissioned with the Lancashire Fusiliers. He served in the Boer War and in France, Salonika and the Middle East during the Great War. In May 1918, he was promoted to command the 179th Brigade in the 60th Division, Egyptian Expeditionary Force. In September 1919 he transferred from the Lancashires to take command of the 1st Battalion, Leinster Regiment.

The 1st Leinsters had left India at the start of war and now were returning to resume their tour of duty in Madras. In August 1921, the governor of Madras requested military support to suppress resistance by Mappila rebels. Humphreys assumed military authority in the region as colonel-commandant of the Malabar Force, which included the Leinsters. By February 1922, troops had put down what authorities deemed a local rebellion and executed the leaders.

It would be the last campaign for the Leinster Regiment. In the context of the formation of the Irish Free State and postwar defence spending cuts, the British Army decided to dissolve its six regiments in southern Ireland. Acting commanding officer Major R.M. Raynsford had tried to make a longshot appeal for Canada to save the “Royal Canadians,” but the entire regiment was to be disbanded.

Humphreys was present for the official disbandment ceremony in July 1922. He and Lieutenant-Colonel R.A..H. Orpen-Palmer of the 2nd Leinsters were the final commanding officers of the regiment. As the 1st Leinsters perpetuated the old 100th (Royal Canadian) Regiment of Foot, Humphreys donated the officers’ mess plate and silver to the Canadian government. In turn, the pieces were entrusted to the museum at the Royal Military College in 1923.

Humphreys retired from the army as at the rank of lieutenant-general in 1937. He died on 15 January 1955 in West Malling, Kent.