Major General Sir Herbert Ralph Hone KCMG KBE MC (3 May 1896 – 28 November 1992) was a British Army officer, barrister and colonial administrator.

Hone was awarded the Military Cross (MC) for his actions when the Germans attempted to enfilade the British lines, becoming severely wounded in the process.

[5] The full citation for the medal appeared in The London Gazette in September 1918 and reads as follows: For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when in command of a company.

He trained as a barrister and on his first long leave was called to the bar by the Middle Temple in 1924, during which time he aided in the prosecution of Patrick Mahon, the perpetrator of the Crumbles murders.

In 1941, he was transferred to General Headquarters Middle East, first as legal advisor to advise on law in the conquered Italian territories and later as chief political officer.

In August 1945, Hone was sent to Malaya, to oversee the handover to civilian rule, and was present at the Japanese surrender at Singapore on 12 September.

He served as Secretary-General to the Governor-General of Malaya for two years from 1946, followed by Deputy Commissioner-General in south-east Asia from 1948 to 1949, and in 1949 he was appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of North Borneo.

[8] Hone was considered a great success as Governor of North Borneo, encouraging the country's recovery from the ravages of the Japanese occupation and expanding the colony's export trades.

Hone was head of the legal division of the Commonwealth Relations Office from 1954 to 1961, when he retired from the civil service, and resumed practice at the bar.

An archive of Hone's papers dating from 1937 to 1972 has been deposited at the Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies at Rhodes House, part of the University of Oxford.