Geoffrey Feilding

Sir Geoffrey Feilding
Feilding in 1914
Born	(1866-09-21)21 September 1866 London, England
Died	21 October 1932(1932-10-21) (aged 66)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	British Army
Years of service	1888−1927
Rank	Major General
Unit	Coldstream Guards
Commands	56th (1st London) Division London District Guards Division 1st Guards Brigade 149th (Northumberland) Brigade 3rd Battalion, Coldstream Guards
Battles / wars	Second Boer War First World War
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George Distinguished Service Order Mentioned in Despatches (9)

Major General Sir Geoffrey Percy Thynne Feilding, KCB, KCVO, CMG, DSO (21 September 1866 – 21 October 1932) was a senior British Army officer who served as Major-General commanding the Brigade of Guards and General Officer Commanding London District from 1918 to 1920.

Early life

Born on 21 September 1866 in South Kensington, London, Feilding was the son of Hon. Sir Percy Feilding (son of the 7th Earl of Denbigh), who fought with the Coldstream Guards during the Crimean War, and his wife Lady Louisa Isabella Harriet Thynne, eldest daughter of the 3rd Marquess of Bath.

Military career

Feilding was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards in April 1888, promoted to lieutenant on 27 November 1890, and to captain on 6 April 1898.

Second Boer War

He served in the early part of the Second Boer War from 1899 to 1900 and was present in the engagements at Belmont in November 1899, being mentioned in despatches twice, and received the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). He returned to South Africa in 1902 commanding a battalion of mounted infantry and was granted the local rank of major on 20 April 1902. Following the end of the war in June 1902, he returned to the United Kingdom on board the SS Ortona, which arrived in Southampton in September that year.

First World War

King George V, General Sir Douglas Haig, and Feilding at Beauquesne, France, 12 August 1916

Fielding later served in the First World War, being mentioned in despatches seven times.

Commanding officers of the Guards Division presented to Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, Divisional Headquarters at Bavincourt, 30 June 1918.

He was appointed Commanding Officer of the 3rd Battalion, Coldstream Guards in 1914. After being promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier general in late April 1915, he went on to succeed Brigadier General James Foster Riddell as commander of the 149th (Northumberland) Brigade, part of the 50th (Northumbrian) Division, after Riddell was killed in action. He was only there for a few weeks before being moved to command of the 1st Guards Brigade in June. After a promotion to major general in early January 1916, he was General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Guards Division from 1916 until September 1918. A war memorial, unveiled by Feilding, honours the battlefield at Ginchy where many British soldiers from the Guards Division fell during the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

Later life

After the war Feilding, promoted to the substantive rank of major general in January 1918, became Major-General commanding the Brigade of Guards and General Officer Commanding London District and then in 1923 he was made General Officer Commanding 56th (1st London) Division. Feilding retired in 1927. He is buried at St. Editha's Church in Monks Kirby.

Bibliography

• Davies, Frank; Maddocks, Graham (2014) [1995]. Bloody Red Tabs: General Officer Casualties of the Great War 1914–1918. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Leo Cooper. ISBN 978-1-78346-237-7.