Apologies in advance for this. I had to tell someone.
Stanley Brenton von Donop was, despite his surname, a Lieutenant-General in the British Army. I suspect he might have been a descendant of Count Carl Emil von Donop, a Hessian colonel who fought for the British in the American War of Independence.
By the time of the Great War he was Master-General of the Ordnance; in other words, in charge of shell production. He was critcised (unfairly, according to many) by David Lloyd George, despite overseeing a huge increase in the mnufacture of shells. He warned that production on the scale demanded by Lloyd George would lead to a high proportion of duds, which proved to be the case on the Somme.
He had an elder brother, Pelham, who later became godfather to P.G. Wodehouse, who was named after him. P. Von Donop was in the Royal Engineers. The regiment, non-English members might be surprised to learn, had an accomplished football team. Pelham played for them in 2 FA Cup Finals, losing in 1874 but winning the following year. As well as being an accomplished cricketer, he twice played football for England.
This therefore makes him one of only four England internationals to have 3 letter o's in their surname. If you want to name the other 3, I can't stop you.
I thank you.
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