Born on 18 November 1895 in China, the son of Captain Charles Henry Palmer, an officer of the Chinese customs service. Commissioned into Princess Charlotte of Wales’s (Royal Berkshire Regiment) on 19 December 1916. Appointed to a commission in the Indian Army on 5 November 1918. Promoted to Captain in September 1922 and to Major in September 1935. For his First World War Service he was awarded the British War medal 1914-20 and the Victory Medal. He served with 3^rd Battalion, 16^th Punjab Regiment in Iraq and was awarded the General Service Medal 1918-62 with clasp ‘KURDISTAN’ for his service in the 1923 campaign. Major Henry William Dayrell Palmer, 3^rd Battalion, 16^th Punjab Regiment, was killed in action on 9 April 1937 at Shahur Tangi. He is commemorated on a memorial in Holy Trinity Cathedral Church at Sialkot.