Harold Augustus Wernher

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

Life and career[]

He was the second son of Sir Julius Wernher, 1st Baronet, and his wife, Alice Sedgwick Mankiewicz.^[1] He reached the rank of major-general during World War II, and he played an important role in coordinating the logistics of Operation Overlord.^[2]

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.^[3]

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.^[4]

Marriage and children[]

Countess Anastasia de Torby

On 20 July 1917, he married Countess Anastasia de Torby (9 September 1892 – 7 December 1977), the eldest child of Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia and his morganatic wife, Sophie of Merenberg, Countess de Torby. They had three children:

• Captain George Michael Alexander Wernher (22 August 1918 – 4 December 1942), killed in action during World War II at the age of 24.^[5]
• Georgina Wernher (17 October 1919 – 28 April 2011), married Lt.-Col. Harold Joseph Phillips (6 November 1909 – 27 October 1980) on 10 October 1944. They had five children, fifteen grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren. She remarried Lt.-Col. Sir George Kennard, 3rd Bt., in December 1992.
• Myra Alice Wernher (born 8 March 1925), married Major Sir David Henry Butter (1920–2010), son of Colonel Charles Adrian James Butter, on 5 November 1946. Lady Butter is a Patroness of the Royal Caledonian Ball.^[6] They had five children, nine grandchildren and four great-grandsons:
  • Sandra Elizabeth Zia Butter (born 26 July 1948), was a bridesmaid at the wedding of Katharine, Duchess of Kent.
  • Maralyn Ramsay, Countess of Dalhousie (born 22 March 1950), married James Hubert Ramsay, 17th Earl of Dalhousie, on 3 October 1973. They have three children and four grandsons:
    • Lady Lorna Theresa Ramsay (6 February 1975), married with issue
    • Lady Alice Magdalene Ramsay (10 August 1977), married with issue
    • Simon David Ramsay, Lord Ramsay (18 April 1981), married with issue
  • Rohays Georgina Butter (born 9 April 1952), married Prince Alexander Peter Galitzine on 7 May 1988. They have two daughters:
    • Princess Sasha Alice Natalia Galitzine (born 10 February 1989)
    • Princess Nadhezda Georgina Galitzine (born 9 July 1990)
  • Georgina Marguerite Butter (born 9 July 1956), married Peter Count von Pejacsevich on 4 December 1982. They have two children:
    • Count Alexander Geza Markus von Pejacsevich (born 15 July 1988)
    • Countess Anastasia Lilia Sophia von Pejacsevich (born 30 May 1992)
  • Charles Harold Alexander Butter (born 10 April 1960), married Agnieszka Szeluk on 1 September 2006. They have two children:
    • Julia Davinia Butter (born 20 December 2006)
    • Henry Archie Alexander Butter (born 27 July 2009)

Arms[]

References[]