Major-GeneralSir Harold Augustus Wernher, 3rd Baronet, GCVO, TD (16 January 1893 – 30 June 1973) was a British military officer and diamond magnate.
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]
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
^Wernher, Harold (1950). World War II: Personal Experiences. Privately Published.
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