F.M. Sir Wm Robertson

[PhilB]

I`m reading Woodward`s biography but it skips over his career up to Lt Col in a few pages. Can anyone shed light on his career as a junior officer?

[wullmackie]

Is this of any use

service in the ranks, 16 Lancers 1877-1888; Lt, 3 Dragoon Guards 1888; railway transport officer, Miranzai and Black Mountain Expeditions, North West Frontier, India 1891; Staff Capt and Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General, Intelligence, Simla, India 1892-1896; Intelligence Officer, Headquarters Chitral Relief Force, India 1895; Staff College 1896; Staff Capt, Intelligence Department, War Office 1899-1900; Deputy Assistant Adjutant General Intelligence, Army Headquarters, South Africa 1900; Assistant Quartermaster General (Intelligence) and General Staff Officer Grade 1, Army Headquarters 1901-1907; Assistant Quartermaster General, Aldershot 1907; Brig Gen, General Staff, Aldershot 1907-1910; Commandant, Staff College 1910-1913; Director of Military Training, War Office 1913-1914; World War I 1914-1918; Quartermaster General, British Expeditionary Force (BEF) 1914; Chief of General Staff, British Expeditionary Force (BEF) 1915; Chief of the Imperial General Staff, War Office 1915-1918; General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command 1918; General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, UK Forces in Great Britain 1918-1919; Commander-in-Chief, British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) 1919-1920; FM 1920; retired 1921

Wull

[PhilB]

Thanks Wull. I was struck by how quickly Robertson moved from Regimental command jobs like Troop Commander (if he ever was one), to Staff type jobs. I wonder if this was evident at all in his non-commissioned posts. He does seem to have been a very clever chap. Qualified in Urdu, Hindi, Persian, Pashto, Punjabi, Gurkhali, German and French.

[birchp]

QUOTE (Phil_B @ Nov 15 2007, 05:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks Wull. I was struck by how quickly Robertson moved from Regimental command jobs like Troop Commander (if he ever was one), to Staff type jobs. I wonder if this was evident at all in his non-commissioned posts. He does sem to have been a very clever chap.

slight var. on Wull reply:-

Born in 1860; pupil-teacher at Welbourne School, Lincolnshire; entered the army 1877; served in the ranks with 16 (The Queen's) Lancers, 1877-1888, qualifying as a regimental instructor in musketry, signalling and elementary intelligence duties; 2nd Lt, 3 (Prince of Wales's) Dragoon Guards, Muttra, India, 1888; Lt, 1891; Railway Transport Officer, Miranzai and Black Mountain Expeditions, India, 1891; Staff Lt, 1892-1895 and Staff Capt, 1895- 1896, Intelligence Department, Simla, India, 1892-1896; Intelligence Officer, Headquarters, Chitral Relief Force, India, 1895; became the first ranker officer ever to attend the Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, 1897-1898; Staff Capt, Colonial Intelligence Section, War Office, 1899; Deputy Assistant Adjutant General, Assistant Head of Colonial Intelligence Section, War Office, 1899-1900; Maj, 1900; Deputy Assistant Adjutant General, Intelligence Section, General Headquarters, South Africa, 1900; Deputy Assistant Adjutant General, Assistant Head of Colonial Intelligence Section, War Office, 1900- 1901; Brevet Lt Col, 1900; Assistant Quartermaster General, Head of Foreign Intelligence Section, War Office, and General Staff Officer, Grade 1, 1901-1907; Col, 1903; Assistant Quartermaster General, Aldershot Command, 1907; Brig Gen and Chief of General Staff, Aldershot Command, 1907- 1910; Maj Gen, 1910; Commandant, Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, 1910-1913; Director of Military Training, War Office, 1913-1914; Quartermaster General, BEF (British Expeditionary Force), 1914-1915; Chief of General Staff, BEF (British Expeditionary Force), 1915; Lt Gen, 1915; Chief of the Imperial General Staff, 1915-1918; Gen, 1916; Aide de Camp General to HM King George V, 1917; General Officer Commanding, Eastern Command, 1918, and Home Forces, 1918-1919; Commander in Chief, BAOR (British Army of the Rhine), 1919-1920; FM, 1920, making him the only man ever to have risen from the ranks to that position; retired 1921; Col, 2 Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys), 1916-1925, 3 (Prince of Wales's) Dragoon Guards, 1925, and Royal Horse Guards, 1928; entered upon a remarkably successful business career, being appointed Director of British Dyestuffs, the Palestine Corporation, the London General Omnibus Company, and Chairman of the Brewers' Trustees; awarded honorary degrees from Oxford and Cambridge; died 1933. Publications: From Private to Field Marshal (Constable and Co, London, 1921); Soldiers and Statesmen 1914-1918 (Cassell and Co, London, 1926).

Paul

[PhilB]

Quote:

" served in the ranks with 16 (The Queen's) Lancers, 1877-1888, qualifying as a regimental instructor in musketry, signalling and elementary intelligence duties; "

Does that mean he would have risen through whatever the cavalry equivalents to CSM & RSM were? Or would he have been some kind of specialist WO?

[birchp]

QUOTE (Phil_B @ Nov 15 2007, 06:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Quote:

" served in the ranks with 16 (The Queen's) Lancers, 1877-1888, qualifying as a regimental instructor in musketry, signalling and elementary intelligence duties; "

Does that mean he would have risen through whatever the cavalry equivalents to CSM & RSM were? Or would he have been some kind of specialist WO?

1881 Cencus

Name: William Robertson

Age: 21

Estimated Birth Year: abt 1860

Relation: Soldier

Gender: Male

Where born: Grantham, Worcestershire, England

Civil Parish: Gate Fulford

County/Island: Yorkshire

Country: England

Street address: "Cavalry Barracks" Fulford Road

Employment status: View Image

Occupation: Corporal 16 Lancers

Registration district: York

Sub-registration district: Walmgate

ED, institution, or vessel: Corraby Barracks

Paul

[Stebie9173]

An article on F.M. Robertson that I have a snap of:

Steve.

[PhilB]

Most interesting, Steve. Thanks!