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Sir Edmund Allenby, popularly known as "the Bull", is a British field marshal and governor of Egypt who became renowned for his role in the Middle Eastern Theatre of the Great War.
Early Life[]
Allenby was born in 1861, the son of Hynman Allenby and Catherine Anne Allenby (née Cane) and was educated at Haileybury College. He sat the exam for the Royal Military College, Sandhurst in 1880 and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons on 10 May 1882. He joined his regiment in South Africa later that year, taking part in the Bechuanaland Expedition of 1884–85. After serving at the cavalry depot in Canterbury, he was promoted to captain on 10 January 1888 and then returned to South Africa.
Allenby returned to Britain in 1890 and he sat – and failed – the entry exam for the Staff College in Camberley. Not deterred, he sat the exam again the next year and passed.
He was promoted to major on 19 May 1897 and was posted to the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, then serving in Ireland, as the Brigade-Major in March 1898.
Second Boer War[]
Following the outbreak of the Second Boer War in October 1899, Allenby returned to his regiment, and the Inniskillings embarked at Queenstown and landed at Cape Town, South Africa, later that year. He took part in the actions at Colesberg on 11 January 1900, Klip Drift on 15 February 1900 and Dronfield Ridge on 16 February 1900, and was mentioned in despatches by the commander-in-chief, Lord Roberts on 31 March 1900.
Drawing of the New South Wales Lancer's who participated in the Second Boer War (drawn by Harry Payne).
Allenby, by now a major, was appointed to command the squadron of New South Wales Lancers, who were camped beside the Australian Light Horse outside Bloemfontein. Both men and horses suffered from the continuous rain and men with cases of enteric fever were taken away every day. Allenby soon established himself as a strict disciplinarian, according to A. B. Paterson even imposing a curfew on the officer's mess.
Allenby participated in the actions at Zand River on 10 May 1900, Kalkheuval Pass on 3 June 1900, Barberton on 12 September 1900 and Tevreden on 16 October 1900 when the Boer General Jan Smuts was defeated. He was promoted to local lieutenant-colonel on 1 January 1901, and to local colonel on 29 April 1901. In a despatch dated 23 June 1902, Lord Kitchener, Commander-in-Chief during the latter part of the war, described him as "a popular and capable Cavalry Brigadier". For his services during the war, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the South Africa honours list published on 26 June 1902, and he received the actual decoration of CB from King Edward VII during an investiture at Buckingham Palace on 24 October 1902.
Between wars[]
The 5th Royal Irish Lancers.
Allenby returned to Britain in 1902 and became commanding officer of the 5th Royal Irish Lancers in Colchester with the substantive rank of lieutenant-colonel on 2 August 1902, and the brevet rank of colonel from 22 August 1902. He was promoted to the substantive rank of colonel and to the temporary rank of brigadier general on 19 October 1905. He assumed command of the 4th Cavalry Brigade in 1906. He was promoted again to the rank of major-general on 10 September 1909 and was appointed Inspector-General of Cavalry in 1910 due to his extensive cavalry experience. He was nicknamed "The Bull" due to an increasing tendency for sudden bellowing outbursts of explosive rage directed at his subordinates, combined with his powerful physical frame.
Weltkrieg[]
The cavalry in the BEF at the beginning of the Great War, headed by Edmund Allenby.
Allenby initially served on the Western Front. At the outbreak of war in August 1914, a British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was sent to France. It consisted of four infantry divisions and one cavalry division, the latter commanded by Allenby. The cavalry division first saw action covering the retreat after the Battle of Mons opposing the German Army's invasion of France. The division distinguished itself under Allenby's direction in the subsequent fighting, with minimal resources at its disposal, at the First Battle of Ypres.
Allenby was promoted to temporary lieutenant general on 10 October 1914. As the BEF was expanded in size to two Armies, he was rewarded by being made commander of the Cavalry Corps. On 6 May 1915, Allenby voluntarily left the Cavalry Arm to take up command of V Corps which was engaged at that moment in severe fighting at the Second Battle of Ypres. The V Corps was victorious in defeating the German assault but incurred controversially heavy losses. In September 1915, V Corps attempted a diversion of German strength to facilitate the concurrent British offensive at Loos. They executed a minor attack in the Hooge Sector in the Ypres Salient under Allenby's direction, which once again incurred substantial losses to its units involved in the affair. In October 1915, Allenby was promoted to lead the British Third Army, being made lieutenant-general (substantive rank) on 1 January 1916. In mid-Summer 1916, he was the Army Commander in support of the launch of the Battle of the Somme offensive, with responsibility for the abortive assault by 3rd Army troops on the trench fortress of the Gommecourt salient, which failed with severe casualties to the units under his command in the operation.
His only son, who Allenby deeply loved, a lieutenant in the Royal Horse Artillery, was to die of wounds on 29 July 1917 aged 19, at Coxyde, Belgium.
The victorious Allenby dismounted, enters Jerusalem on foot out of respect for the Holy City, 11 December 1917
More detail's will be revealed in the future!
He led the British Empire's Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign against the Ottoman Empire in the conquest of Palestine. The British succeeded in capturing Beersheba, Jaffa, and Jerusalem from October to December 1917. His forces occupied the Jordan Valley during the summer of 1918, then went on to capture northern Palestine and defeat the Ottoman Yildirim Army Group's Eighth Army at the Battle of Megiddo, forcing the Fourth and Seventh Army to retreat towards Damascus. He also approved the utilisation of Arabic irregular forces which were operating at that time to the Turkish Army's open left flank in the Arabian interior, under the direction of a young British Army Intelligence officer named T. E. Lawrence. Subsequently, the EEF Pursuit by Desert Mounted Corps captured Damascus and advanced into northern Syria. However General Alenby's advance was threatened at the Battle of Alleppo and halted at the Battle of Maraş. As further attempts by the General Allenby's weakened forces, zapped of strength by the loss of troop's shipped to the Western Front, were incapable of executing another full assault, the Allied troops eventually retreated back to their formations prior to the Megiddo Offensive (Allenby Line), where no real progress was made until the signing of Armistice in August 1919.
Governor of Egypt[]
The Coat of Arms of the Viscounty of Allenby.
In 1919 Allenby was given a Viscounty in honor of his service during the Great War.
His appointment in 1919 as Special High Commissioner of Egypt came as the country was being disrupted by demonstrations against British rule. It had been under Martial Law since 1914 and several of Egyptian leaders, including Saad Zaghlul, had been exiled to Malta.
These deportations had led to rioting across the country, with Cairo isolated. Allenby's first response was conciliatory. He persuaded the Colonial Office to allow Zaghlul and his delegation, from the Wafd, to travel to France. Their intention was to present the Egyptian case to the Versailles Peace Conference but they received no official recognition and returned to Egypt in failure.
Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby (1861– ), British Field Marshal (by Henry Walter Barnett).
In early 1921 there were more riots and demonstrations that were blamed on Zaghlul. This time Allenby ordered that Zaghlul and five other leaders be deported to the Seychelles. Sixteen rioters were executed. The following year Allenby travelled to London with proposals which he insisted be implemented. They included the end of Martial Law, the drafting of an Egyptian Constitution and the return of Zaglul. Progress was made: Egypt was granted limited self-government, and a draft constitution was published in October 1922 leading to the formation of a Zaghlul government in January 1924. The following November the commander of British forces in Egypt and Sudan, Sir Lee Stack, was assassinated in Cairo. Allenby's response was draconian and included a humiliating £500,000 fine to be paid by the Egyptian Government. In 1925, Allenby resigned and returned to England after the Egyptian Revolution.
Retirement[]
After the British Revolution Allenby fled to Canada. There he would give talks on his service during the Great War and that of the Allies. Although for the most part Allenby would retire to private life. In popular culture Allenby gained a reputation as a brilliant commander and victim to the poor decision-making of the Allies, particularly General Haig.
Personal Life[]
Allenby is an avid polo player. He married Adelaide Mabel Chapman, the daughter of a Wiltshire landowner, in 1897. Allenby had a son with Miss Adelaide Mabel who then died in the Great War:
- Horace Michael Hynman Allenby (1898-1917)