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 1866
Died 1958
British Army Lieutenant Colonel King's Liverpool Regiment 20th Battalion (4th Liverpool Pals)
British Army Brigadier General GOC 175th Infantry Brigade
British Army Brigadier General GOC 24th Brigade
More about Horace Walter Cobham -
Born 1855
Died 1929
British Army Colonel Royal Army Medical Corps
British Army Colonel Army Medical Services
British Army Surgeon General Army Medical Services
More about Anthony Alfred Bowlby, Bt. -
Born 1863
Died 1942
British Army Lieutenant Colonel Royal Garrison Artillery
British Army Brigadier General GOC Heavy Artillery, Canadian Corps
British Army Temporary Brigadier General GOC 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade
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More about Arthur Cecil Currie -
Born 1871
Died 1918
British Army Major and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel /Temporary Brigadier General Royal Engineers
More about Duncan Sayre Macinnes -
Born 1870
Died 1931
British Army Second Lieutenant South Wales Borderers
Indian Army Major General/Temporary Lieutenant General Indian Army/Staff and Head Quarters
Indian Army Lieutenant General General Officer Commanding Indian Corps, Mesopotamia
More about Alexander Stanhope Cobbe -
Born 1861
Died 1918
British Army Major General Royal Berkshire Regiment 2nd Battalion
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 1867
Died 1949
British Army Major General Temporary Lieutenant General Staff
British Army Major General GOC Lines of Communication
British Army Lieutenant General Staff Communication Area
More about Joseph John Asser -
Born 1866
Died 1946
British Army Lieutenant Colonel Royal Engineers royal engineers 32nd Company
British Army Brigadier General Chief Engineer, XIII Corps
More about Edward Part Brooker -
Born 1878
Died 1954
British Army Major and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel/Temporary Brigadier General Royal Artillery
British Army Major and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel/Temporary Brigadier General Staff
British Army Brigadier General Staff, XI Corps
More about John Edward Spencer Brind, K -
Born 1857
Died 1931
British Army Honorary Lieutenant General London Regiment command Battalion
British Army Major General London Regiment goc 47th (2nd Battalion
More about Charles St Leger Barter -
Born 1862
Died 1938
Royal Navy Brigadier General Royal Marines
Royal Navy Major General Royal Marines
More about George Grey Aston -
Born 1887
Died 1962
Australian Imperial Force Lieutenant Colonel 6th Battalion (Victoria), Australian Infantry Gallipoli
Australian Imperial Force Brigadier General GOC 3rd Infantry Brigade
More about Henry Gordon Bennett -
British Army Instructor Staff Indian Corps
British Army Colonel 8th Rajputs
More about Leonard Henry Abbott -
Born 1875
British Army Major Gordon Highlanders 1st Battalion
British Army Lieutenant Colonel Egyptian Forces
British Army Brigadier General GOC 155th Brigade, 52nd (Lowland) Division TF
More about Percy Stuart Allan -
Born 1865
Died 1950
British Army Major General Commanding West Riding Division
British Army Lieutenant Colonel Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry 2nd Battalion
British Army Brigadier General GOC 3rd Brigade
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More about Henry Rodolph Davies -
Born 1870
Died 1953
British Army Major 9th Lancers
British Army Brigadier General 9th Lancers
British Army Brigadier General GOC 2nd Cavalry Brigade
More about Desmond John Edward Beale-Browne -
Born 1886
Died 1976
Canadian Expeditionary Force Lieutenant Colonel 72nd Battalion
Canadian Expeditionary Force Brigadier General GOC 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade
More about John Arthur Clark -
Born 1870
Died 1941
British Army Major 2nd Indian Cavalry Division
British Army Major General Director General, Transportation, British Armies in France
More about Sydney D'aguilar Crookshank, K -
Born 1861
Died 1931
British Army Brigadier General GOC 140th Brigade
British Army Brigadier General GOC 13th Infantry Brigade
British Army Major General GOC 39th Division
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More about Gerald James Cuthbert -
Born 1867
Died 1917
British Army Brigadier General GOC 8th Cavalry Brigade
More about Charles Bulkeley Bulkeley - Johnson