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Henry Seymour Rawlinson, Baron Rawlinson

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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"HENRY SEYMOUR RAWLINSON RAWLINSON, Baron (1864), British general, was born Feb. 20 1864, son of Maj.-Gen. Sir H. Rawlinson, Bart. He joined the army in 1884 and a year later became A.D.C. to S it F. Roberts in India on whose staff he served intermittently for some years. He took part in the Burma operations in 1886-7, and he was on the staff on the Nile in 1897-8, for which he was promoted brevet lieutenant-colonel; he had succeeded to the baronetcy in 1891. He went out to S. Africa on the staff in 1899, served through the defence of Ladysmith, and afterwards joined Lord Roberts and accompanied him to Pretoria and into the eastern Transvaal. Throughout the later stages of the war he commanded a column, and he was rewarded with a brevet colonelcy and the C.B. for his services. Then, after some months at the War Office, he became Commandant of the Staff College, passing on from there in 1906 to the charge of a brigade. He was promoted major-general in 1909 and commanded the 3rd Division from 1910 to May 1914.

He was at first employed at the War Office on the outbreak of the World War, but was in Oct. 1914 selected to command the IV. Army Corps that was being organized. He was in charge of the forces sent to assist Antwerp, and took part in the first battle of Ypres and in the Neuve Chapelle and the Loos offensives, being given the K.C.B. in 1915. He commanded the I. Army temporarily at the end of that year, was promoted lieutenantgeneral, and on the formation of a IV. Army was placed at its head. He commanded this during the battle of the Somme, achieving important successes, and was promoted general in recognition of his services. At the end of 1917 he was transferred temporarily to the command of the Army during Gen. Plumer's absence in Italy, and in Feb. and March 1918 he acted for some weeks as British representative on the Supreme War Council. But he was recalled from this to the field in April to resume command of the IV. Army before Amiens at a critical juncture. On Aug. 8 his troops in conjunction with the French attacked the enemy in this region and they gained a signal victory, which heralded the general advance of the Allies. His army played a prominent part a few weeks later in the storming of the Hindenburg line and in the subsequent victorious advance eastwards. On the final distribution of honours for the war he was raised to the peerage as Baron Rawlinson of Trent, received a grant of 30,000, and was given the G.C.B. In the latter part of 1919 he was sent to N. Russia to conduct the withdrawal of the Allies from Archangel and Murmansk, and on his return he commanded at Aldershot for a year. At the end of 1920 he went out to India as commander-in-chief.