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Edmund Henry Hyndman Allenby Allenby

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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"EDMUND HENRY HYNDMAN ALLENBY ALLENBY, 1ST Visct. (1861-), British field marshal, son of Hyndman Allenby, was born April 23 1861, and joined the Inniskilling Dragoons in 1882. His first few years in the army were spent in South Africa, where he took part. in the Bechuanaland expedition of 1884-5 and in the Zululand operations of 1888. After returning to England with his regiment he passed through the Staff College and in 1896 he married Adelaide Mabel Chapman. He went out to South Africa again as a squadron leader in 1899 and took part in the important cavalry operations by which Kimberley was relieved, in the battle of Paardeberg, and in Lord Roberts's advance to Pretoria and into the eastern Transvaal. During the later phases of the South African War he made a great name for himself as a column commander, and he was for his services promoted brevet lieutenant-colonel and colonel and given the C.B. He then commanded the 5th Lancers from 1902-5 and for the next four years he was at the head of a cavalry brigade, being promoted major-general in 1909. He became inspector of cavalry in 1910 and, as holding that position, went out to France with the Expeditionary Force in 1914 in charge of the cavalry division.

The work of his mounted troops during the retreat from Mons, the subsequent advance to the Aisne, and the first battle of Ypres won great praise, and on a second cavalry division arriving Allenby was appointed commander of the newly constituted Cavalry Corps. He was about the same time given the K.C.B. In June 1915 he was transferred from this to the command of the 5th Army Corps; but he held that position for only a short time as, in the following Oct. on Gen. Monro's proceeding to the Near East, he succeeded that general as chief of the 3rd Army, which he led for nearly two years. His army was not called upon to undertake operations on any large scale during 1916, but it shared to some extent in the later stages of the battle of the Somme. In 1917, on the other hand, it was very heavily engaged in the Arras region during the spring months and won much valuable ground. Allenby had been promoted lieutenant-general in 1916, and in June 1917 he was selected for the command of the troops in Egypt and Palestine, where elaborate preparations had been made for an offensive campaign; he was at the same time promoted general.

The season was unsuitable for active operations on the borders of the Holy Land for the first three months after his arrival in Egypt, but these were spent in perfecting preparations for an advance, which began at the end of Oct. with the capture of Beersheba and the taking of Gaza a few days after. These successes were followed up relentlessly. Jaffa fell Nov. 17, the Turks were driven with loss out of every position that they tried to take up, and, after vain efforts on their part to bar the way to Jerusalem, that city was surrendered Dec. 9. Allenby, who had been given the G.C.M.G. for these achievements, materially improved his position during the next four months, but he was then obliged by events in France to despatch some of his troops to the western theatre of war.

During the summer of 1918 fresh forces from India and Mesopotamia took the place of the troops sent away, and in Sept. the British commander struck with crushing effect. By a sudden advance in great force the Turkish front was broken, the plain of Esdraelon was flooded with mounted men, the infantry moved irresistibly forward and, as the result of a masterly combination of war, the enemy suffered an overwhelming defeat. All arrangements had been made in advance for instantly following up the anticipated victory; within a very few weeks Damascus and Beirut had been occupied, troops had been thrust right up to Aleppo, and not only Palestine but also all Syria were in the hands of the Allies. Allenby's brilliant services were recognized by his being given the G.C.B., and, on the general distribution of honours for the war in 1919, he was promoted field marshal and was raised to the peerage as Viscount Allenby of Megiddo and Felixstowe; he was at the same time awarded a grant of X50,000.

While engaged in his campaigns of conquest beyond the Egyptian borders Allenby had also been responsible for maintaining order in the Nile delta and for its protection against attack from without, matters that had at times given grounds for anxiety as there was much unrest due to the abnormal situation that existed. In 1919 he was definitely appointed British High Commissioner in Egypt.