William Lambton (British Army officer)
Sir William Lambton | |
|---|---|
.png) In The Sketch, 27 December 1899 | |
| Born | 4 December 1863 Durham, County Durham, England[1] |
| Died | 11 October 1936 (aged 72) Cap-d'Ail, France |
| Buried | St. Barnabas' Church, Bournmoor, Durham, England |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service |  British Army |
| Years of service | 1884–1920 |
| Rank | Major General |
| Unit | Coldstream Guards |
| Commands | 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards 4th Division |
| Battles / wars | Mahdist War Second Boer War First World War |
| Awards | Companion of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order |
Major General Sir William Lambton, KCB, CMG, CVO, DSO (4 December 1863 – 11 October 1936) was a British Army officer who commanded the 4th Division during the First World War.
Military career
[edit]Born the son of George Lambton, 2nd Earl of Durham, he was educated at Eton College and the Royal Military College at Sandhurst.[2]
Lambton was commissioned a lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards on 6 February 1884,[3][4] promoted to captain on 18 May 1892, and became aide-de-camp to the Governor General of Ireland in 1895, before he served with the Egyptian Army.[3] He took part in the Nile expedition of 1898 and fought at the Battle of Atbara and the Battle of Omdurman, and was promoted to major on 29 September 1898.[3]
Following the outbreak of the Second Boer War in late 1899, his battalion was sent to South Africa. As part of the Kimberley Relief Force, he was present at the Battle of Magersfontein on 10–11 December 1899, in which the defending Boer force defeated the advancing British forces amongst heavy casualties for the latter. Lambton was mentioned in the despatch from Paul Methuen, who described the battle and how Lambton had refused to be carried off the battlefield despite being wounded.[5]
After his recovery, he served as Military Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief of the Transvaal, and was Military Secretary to Alfred Milner, High-Commissioner for Southern Africa, from December 1900, with the local rank of lieutenant colonel.[6] He was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order in April 1901.[7]
He was appointed commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards in 1912, Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster-General for London District in 1913 and Military Secretary to the C-in-C of the British Expeditionary Force at the beginning of the First World War in August 1914 before becoming General Officer Commanding (GOC) 4th Division in 1915, the same year in which, in June, he was promoted to major general.[8][3] He had also been made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in February 1915.[9]
He retired from the army in 1920.[3]
Family
[edit]In 1921, he married Lady Katherine de Vere Somerset, née Beauclerk, daughter of William Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St Albans; they had no children.[10]
William Lambton died in Cap-d'Ail on 11 October 1936.[11]
References
[edit]- ^ "Major General Sir William Lambton KCB CMG CVO DSO". Family Search. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
- ^ The county families of the United Kingdom; or, Royal manual of the titled and untitled aristocracy of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland by Edward Walford, (Volume ed.59, yr.1919)
- ^ a b c d e Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
- ^ "No. 25315". The London Gazette. 5 February 1884. p. 532.
- ^ "No. 27174". The London Gazette. 16 March 1900. pp. 1785–1787.
- ^ "No. 27441". The London Gazette. 10 June 1902. p. 3754.
- ^ "No. 11296". The Edinburgh Gazette. 23 April 1901. p. 466.
- ^ "No. 29202". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 June 1915. p. 6116.
- ^ "No. 29074". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 February 1915. p. 1686.
- ^ Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003
- ^ "Death of Hon. Sir W. Lambton". The Daily Telegraph. Nice (published 12 October 1936). 11 October 1936. p. 15. Retrieved 19 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1863 births
- 1936 deaths
- British Army generals of World War I
- Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
- Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
- Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order
- Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
- People educated at Eton College
- Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst
- Younger sons of earls
- Lambton family
- British Army major generals
- British Army personnel of the Second Boer War
- British Army personnel of the Mahdist War
- Military personnel from Durham, England
- Burials in County Durham