Harold Augustus Wernher


Sir Harold Augustus Wernher, 3rd Baronet, 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. He reached the rank of major-general during World War II, and he played an important role in coordinating the logistics of Operation Overlord.
In 1948, he inherited the Wernher baronetcy from his elder brother, Sir Derrick Wernher, 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.

Marriage and children

On 20 July 1917, he married Countess Anastasia de Torby, the eldest child of Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia and his morganatic wife, Sophie of Merenberg, Countess de Torby. They had three children: