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Sir John Grenfell Maxwell

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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"SIR JOHN GRENFELL MAXWELL (1859-), British general, was born July 11 185 9. He joined the army in 1879. He served in Egypt in 1882 and in the Nile expedition of 1884-5 and was then seconded to serve with the Egyptian army, with which he spent many years, taking part in all its successive campaigns against the forces of the Mandi, and finally commanding a brigade during the advances up the Nile (1896-8) which closed with the reoccupation of Khartum; this gave him the rank of full colonel in the British army. He served on the staff during the S. African War and was given the K.C.B. and C.M.G. for his services. He subsequently filled important staff appointments, was promoted major-general in 1906, and was in command of the British troops in Egypt from 1908 to 1912.

A lieutenant-general on the outbreak of the World War, he acted for a few weeks as liaison officer with the French headquarters and was then sent out to take charge of the forces which were arriving in Egypt from the United Kingdom, India and Australasia.. Egypt during the months following represented at once a vast depot and training centre, a base for the army in the Gallipoli Peninsula, and a theatre of war in itself, seeing that the Turks threatened the country from the east and the Senussi from the west. His responsibilities were wide and varied, and, in so far as the security of the Nile Delta was concerned, his defensive measures were most successful, as the one serious advance which the Turks attempted was beaten off decisively. He was given the K.C.M.G. for his services and returned to England in March 1 916. The Irish rebellion broke out a few weeks later, and Maxwell was thereupon entrusted with the command of the troops in Ireland. He remained there until the autumn, and then was given command of the Northern District in England, which he held for two years. He was promoted full general in 1919.