Online: The modern Major General: Patterns in the careers of the British Army Major Generals on active duty at the time

[MaureenE]

The modern Major General: Patterns in the careers of the British Army Major Generals on active duty at the time of the Sarajevo assassinations by Gregory Fontenot,  1980 Masters thesis, is available online.

https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA087580/mode/2up

It was mentioned to me as of interest to GWF members by a friend of the author. "It is a study written by a friend of mine, Greg Fontenot, a retired colonel from the US Army..   He is an excellent historian and the author of On Point:  The US Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom."

 The abstract says "This study describes patterns discernible in the careers of the 108 British Major Generals on the active list as of July 28, 1914. Commissioned after the abolition of purchase in 1870 and promoted to Major General between the Boer War and the final crisis leading to World War I, they form the last peacetime generation of general officers. The product of this analysis is a description of who they were, where they came from and by what means they reached the pinnacle of their profession. They merit particular attention as a measure of the effect of the abolition of purchase had on the British General officer corps and because of their influence in British military affairs in the years before and during World War I. Finally they also provide a comparison to the prevalent post-War stereotypes of the British War-time Generals. Thus, the study provides a basis for continued discussion on the nature of British generalship"

Maureen