Lives of the First World War
Discover, explore and remember millions of personal stories from the First World War
"Lions led by Donkeys?"
"Lions led by Donkeys?"
The name and inspiration for this Community comes from a research project at the University of Birmingham. ‘Who were all these generals anyway?’ This question, asked one spring evening at an extra-mural class in Wolverhampton, encouraged John Bourne, of the University's Centre for War Studies, to begin researching the hundreds of Generals who took part in the leadership of the British Army during WW1. Most people interested in the Great War are familiar with the names of a handful of senior commanders: French, Haig, Allenby, Byng, Plumer, Rawlinson. And probably familiar with the questionable verdict that many were ‘donkeys’ who sent their lion-hearted men to brutal deaths on squalid battlefields, the state of which they were culpably ignorant and from whose deprivations they were comfortably remote. But what about the totality of general officers in an army of 60 divisions and two million men? Who were they? How many were there? How were they chosen, promoted and dismissed? A group of researchers set out to discover the answers to these questions under the name of the Abbots Way Research Group. The fruits of this research are now being written up in a book, with contributions not only from John Bourne but also from Simon Robbins, Andrew Godefroy, Bryn Hammond and Professor Peter Simkins. The group has identified 1,257 Western Front generals. This "Lives of the First World War" community will include those on Peter Bourne's list, together with some of the other Generals who led forces in other theatres of WW1. The website for the "Lions led by Donkeys" project is here: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/activity/warstudies/research/projects/lionsdonkeys/index.aspx
Created by: Bryan5462
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British Army Instructor Staff Indian Corps
British Army Colonel 8th Rajputs
More about Leonard Henry Abbott -
Born 1856
Died 1946
British Army Brigadier General Royal Artillery
More about Charles Henry Alexander -
Born 1855
Died 1921
British Army Major General Royal Artillery
British Army Major-General
More about Benjamin Burton, -
Born 1863
Died 1947
British Army Colonel/Temporary Brigadier General CRA, 49th (WestRiding) Division
More about Charles Trevor Caulfield, -
Born 1861
Died 1918
British Army Major General Royal Berkshire Regiment
British Army Lieutenant Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire Regiment)
British Army Captain Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire Regiment)
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More about Edward Feetham -
Born 1852
Died 1925
British Army Colonel
Royal Navy Cadet
Royal Navy Cadet
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More about The Viscount John Denton Pinkstone French -
Born 1868
Died 1916
British Army Major Royal Field Artillery
British Army Brigadier General 2nd Ammunition Division
British Army Lieutenant Royal Field Artillery
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More about Archie Stewart Buckle -
Born 1866
Died 1947
British Army Brigadier General 138th Infantry Brigade
British Army Brigadier General GOC 138th Infantry Brigade
More about Walter Rees Clifford, -
Born 1856
Died 1925
British Army Brigadier General GOC 43rd Light Infantry Brigade
More about George Cockburn, -
Born 1862
Died 1918
British Army Brigadier General Staff Corps
British Army Major Staff Corps
British Army Major General General Staff
More about Richard Hutton Davies -
British Army Lieutenant Colonel Dragoons
British Army Brigadier General Command Cavalry Brigade
More about Oswald Buckley Burghant Smith-Bingham -
Born 1862
Died 1941
British Army Lieutenant Colonel Royal Field Artillery
British Army Brigadier General Royal Field Artillery
British Army Brigadier General CRA,36th (Ulster) Division
More about Herbert Algernon Brendon -
Born 1854
Died 1937
British Army Major General Royal Artillery
British Army Major General GOC 49th (West Riding) Division
More about Thomas Stanford Baldock -
Born 1864
Died 1944
British Army Lieutenant Colonel Shropshire Yeomanry
British Army Colonel Staff
British Army Brigadier General Line of Communications Palestine
More about Arthur Henry Orlando Lloyd -
Born 1853
Died 1926
British Army Lieutenant General GOC London District
More about Francis Lloyd, -
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Born 1875
Died 1949
British Army Lieutenant Colonel 3rd Dragoon Guards
British Army Brigadier General GOC 7th Cavalry Brigade
More about Alfred Burt, -
Born 1859
Died 1949
British Army Brigadier General Royal Artillery
More about Edward Hume Armitage -
Born 1859
Died 1936
British Army Colonel 107th Brigade
British Army Brigadier General Area Commandant, 2nd and 5th Armies
British Army Brigadier General GOC 107th (1st Ulster) Brigade
More about George Henry Holbeche Couchman, -
Born 1859
Died 1944
British Army Colonel Staff
British Army Honorary Brigadier General Staff
British Army Brigadier General Staff
More about Robert John Tudway