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 1861
Died 1937
British Army Brigadier General CRA, 46th Division
More about Herbert Montgomery Campbell -
Born 1867
Died 1943
British Army Major General Commands and Staff
British Army Major General 25th Division
More about Edmund Guy Tulloch Bainbridge -
Born 1861
Died 1916
British Army Colonel /Temporary Brigadier General General Headquarters Staff
British Army Second Lieutenant East Kent Regiment
British Army Captain East Kent Regiment
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More about Edward Charles Ingouville-Williams -
Born 1871
Died 1939
British Army Lieutenant Colonel and Brevet Colonel/Temporary Brigadier General Royal Artillery/Staff
British Army Major Royal Field Artillery 25th Brigade, 114th Battery
British Army General Royal Artillery
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More about Thomas Astley Cubitt, K -
Born 1877
Died 1954
British Army Major Gordon Highlanders 1st Battalion
British Army Temporary Lieutenant Colonel Gordon Highlanders 1st Battalion
British Army Lieutenant Colonel 71st Infantry Brigade
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More about Percy Wilson Brown -
Born 1860
Died 1914
British Army Major General Head Quarters Staff, Commanding 3rd Division, B.E.F.
British Army General 3rd Division
More about Hubert Ian Wetherall Hamilton -
Born 1880
Died 1973
British Army Captain Seaforth Highlanders 1st Battalion
British Army Brigadier General GOC 154th Brigade
More about Kenneth Gray Buchanan -
Born 1863
Died 1947
British Army Colonel/Temporary Brigadier General CRA, 49th (WestRiding) Division
More about Charles Trevor Caulfield -
Born 1871
Died 1946
British Army Major General Commands and Staff
British Army Second Lieutenant 10th (Prince of Wales's Own Royal) Hussars
British Army Lieutenant 10th (Prince of Wales's Own Royal) Hussars
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More about Reginald Walter Ralph Barnes -
Born 1877
British Army Captain Royal Sussex Regiment 2nd Battalion
British Army Captain Royal Sussex Regiment 2nd Battalion
British Army Major Royal Sussex Regiment attached Cadet School, General Headquarters
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More about Charles Earbery Bond -
Born 1870
Died 1944
British Army Lieutenant Colonel Royal Highlanders
British Army Brigadier General Staff Corps
More about Archibald Rice Cameron -
Born 1869
Died 1931
British Army Lieutenant Colonel Essex Regiment
British Army Lieutenant Colonel Somerset Light Infantry
British Army Lieutenant Colonel Essex Regiment 1/6th Battalion
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More about William James Bowker -
Born 1869
Died 1927
British Army Lieutenant Colonel Norfolk Regiment 1st Battalion
British Army Brigadier General Norfolk Regiment 1st Battalion
More about John William Vincent Carroll -
Born 1861
Died 1955
British Army Royal Engineers
British Army Brigadier General CRE, III Corps
British Army Major General CRE, Third Army
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More about John Edward Capper, K -
Born 1868
Died 1957
British Army Temporary Brigadier General Reserve of Officers Australian Force/Staff
British Army Brigadier General GOC 45th Brigade, 15th (Scottish) Division
British Army Second Lieutenant King's Royal Rifle Corps
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More about William Henry Loraine Allgood -
Born 1875
Died 1946
British Army Major Rifle Brigade
British Army Lieutenant Colonel Rifle Brigade
British Army Brigadier General Divisional Artillery
More about Bertram Hewitt Hunter Cooke -
Born 1868
Died 1940
British Army Second Lieutenant East Surrey Regiment 4th Battalion
British Army Second Lieutenant Prince of Wales' Own North Staffordshire Regiment 2nd Battalion
British Army Lieutenant Prince of Wales' Own North Staffordshire Regiment 2nd Battalion
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More about Vigant William De Falbe -
Born 1870
Died 1934
British Army Major Royal Field Artillery
British Army Captain Royal Field Artillery
British Army Lieutenant Royal Artillery
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More about Ernest Wright Alexander -
Born 1879
Died 1956
British Army Major Royal Dublin Fusiliers 8th Battalion
British Army Brigadier General 118th Infantry Brigade
More about Edward Henry Charles Patrick Bellingham -
Born 1875
Died 1944
British Army Acting Colonel 2nd Brigade Headquarters
British Army Captain 15th Hussars
British Army Lieutenant Colonel Machine Gun Corps "B" Battalion, Heavy Brigade
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More about Anthony Courage