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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Born 1871
Died 1961
British Army Major Royal Horse Artillery
British Army Colonel Royal Horse Artillery
British Army Brigadier General 16th Division Artillery
More about Claud Edward Charles Graham Charlton -
Born 1882
Died 1928
British Army Lieutenant Colonel Territorial Force Reserves
British Army Brigadier General Territorial Force Reserves
British Army Major and Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Warwickshire Royal Horse Artillery
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More about Lord Brooke -
Born 1854
Died 1942
Indian Army Major General GOC. Sirhind Brigade
More about James Milford Sutherland Brunker, K -
Born 1869
Died 1921
British Army Brevet Lieutenant Colonel/Temporary Brigadier General Scottish Rifles
British Army Major Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) 2nd Battalion
British Army Brevet Lieutenant Colonel/Temporary Brigadier General GOC 94th Infantry Brigade
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More about George Tupper Campbell Carter-Campbell -
Born 1869
Died 1954
British Army Lieutenant Colonel 2nd Battalion King's Shropshire Light Infantry
British Army Colonel Temporary Brigadier General 222nd Brigade Shropshire Light Infantry
British Army Major General GOC 31st Division
More about Robert James Bridgford -
Born 1864
Died 1955
British Army 2 Lieutenant Durham Light Infantry
British Army Major General/Temporary Lieutenant General Commands and Staff
British Army Major General GOC 29th Division
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More about Henry De Beauvoir De Lisle, K -
Born 1879
Died 1937
British Army Lieutenant Colonel Royal Irish Rifles 9th (Service) Battalion (West Belfast)
British Army Brigadier General GOC 119th (Welsh) Brigade, 40th Division.
More about Frank Percy Crozier -
Born 1872
Died 1960
British Army Major Leicestershire Regiment
British Army Brigadier General Brigadier General GOC Infantry Brigade
More about Bertie Coore Dent -
Born 1870
Died 1954
British Army Lieutenant Colonel Royal Field Artillery
British Army Brigadier General Royal Artillery
More about Edwin Francis Delaforce -
Born 1877
Died 1916
British Army Captain 1st Royal Irish Fusiliers
British Army Brigadier General GOC 8th Brigade
More about George Bull -
Born 1884
Died 1960
British Army Captain Lincolnshire Regiment
British Army Temporary Major Lincolnshire Regiment
British Army Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Lincolnshire Regiment
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More about Michael George Henry Barker -
Born 1863
Died 1932
British Army Lieutenant Colonel Royal Field Artillery
British Army Brigadier General GOC 119th Brigade
More about Charles Cunliffe Owen -
Born 1870
Died 1935
British Army Lieutenant Colonel Lancashire Fusiliers 2nd Battalion
British Army Brigadier General GOC 3rd Brigade
British Army Brigadier General BGGS, 1st Army
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More about Richard Harte Keatinge Butler, K -
Born 1872
Died 1941
British Army Brevet Lieutenant Colonel King's Own Scottish Borderers
British Army Major King's Own Scottish Borderers
British Army Brigadier General GOC 169th Infantry Brigade
More about Edward Sacheverell D'ewes Coke -
Born 1857
Died 1925
British Army Brigadier General Staff
More about Francis Douglas Lumley -
Born 1867
Died 1933
British Army Major Royal Engineers company royal engineers 24th Company
British Army Lieutenant Colonel Royal Engineers
British Army Brigadier General Corps Commander Royal Engineers, V Corps
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More about Arthur Julius Craven -
Born 1869
Died 1938
British Army Lieutenant Colonel King's Liverpool Regiment
British Army Brigadier General GOC 142nd Infantry Brigade
More about Vivian Telford Bailey -
Born 1878
Died 1954
British Army Major Coldstream Guards
British Army Brigadier General DA&QMG IV Corps
More about William Harry Verelst Darell -
Died 1935
British Army Lieutenant Colonel Royal Engineers
British Army Temporary Brigadier General CRE East Africa, Royal Engineers
More about John Anderson Dealy -
Born 1872
Died 1939
British Army Lieutenant Colonel Attached Army Head Quarters
British Army Brigadier General GOC 5th Brigade
British Army Lieutenant Colonel Grenadier Guards 1st Battalion
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More about Charles Edward Corkran