Sir George Macdonogh | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 4 March 1865 (1865-03-04) Sunderland |
| Died | 10 July 1942 (1942-07-11) (aged 77) Teddington |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service |  British Army |
| Years of service | 1884–1922 |
| Rank | Lieutenant-General |
| Unit | Royal Engineers |
| Battles / wars | World War I |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Knight's Cross of the Order of St. Sylvester |
Sir George Mark Watson Macdonogh (4 March 1865 – 10 July 1942) was a British Armygeneral officer. After early service in theRoyal Engineers he became a staff officer prior to the outbreak of the First World War. His main role in the war was as Director of Military Intelligence at theWar Office in 1916–18.
He was born on 4 March 1865, son of George Valentine MacDonogh, Deputy Inspector of theRoyal Naval Hospital, Greenwich. He was commissioned as asecond lieutenant in theRoyal Engineers on 5 July 1884.[1][2][3] Ian Beckett comments that he had "considerable intellectual ability" but was "diffident and taciturn". He was promoted tocaptain on 22 October 1892.[2]
In 1896 he enteredStaff College by examination. The normal order of results was varied in order to conceal the fact that he and his contemporaryJames Edmonds were far ahead of the other entrants. Both men found their studies easy, and whilst Edmonds wrote a History of theAmerican Civil War in his spare time MacDonogh studied law, qualifying as abarrister atLincoln's Inn in 1897.[2]
MacDonogh, who was fluent in several Scandinavian languages, married Aline Borgstrom of Helsingfors (Helsinki) on 8 November 1898. They had one son, who died of natural causes in 1915.[2]
From November 1898 to November 1899 he wasDeputy Assistant Adjutant General, Royal Engineers, in Dublin. From December 1899 to August 1903 he was Secretary (brigade major) of theSchool of Military Engineering at Chatham. He was promoted tomajor on 1 April 1901.[4] In September 1903 he was appointed deputy assistant quartermaster general for Thames District.[5] On 27 October 1906 he was appointed GSO3 in theWar Office. In January 1908 he was appointed a GSO2. On 22 January 1909 he was promotedlieutenant colonel.[6]
On 30 October 1912 he was promotedcolonel.[7] In December 1912 he was appointed a GSO1. He succeeded Edmonds as head of MO5, drafting measures to control aliens in the event of war.Henry Wilson, director of military operations, distrusted him as a convert fromMethodism toRoman Catholicism. In March 1914 Macdonogh was one of the few officers in the War Office willing to coerce Protestant Ulster during theCurragh incident.[2]
In August 1914 he was appointed a GSO1 (Intelligence) atBritish Expeditionary Force GHQ. On 10 December he was promoted to the temporary rank ofbrigadier general,[8] although this was later antedated to 7 November,[9] and was assigned to the BEF's general staff.[10] He performed distinguished service predicting enemy troop movements at theFirst Battle of Ypres and again predicting an enemy gas attack on the BEF'sSecond Army in December 1915.[2]
OnSir William Robertson's promotion from Chief of Staff BEF toCIGS, Macdonogh was brought back to London. On 3 January 1916 he was promoted toDirector of Military Intelligence at the War Office, with the permanent rank ofmajor-general.[11] By May 1917 he had an accurate picture of the entire German Army in the west, except for a singleLandwehr regiment. He helped to create the propaganda department MI7(b) which became very active from the summer of 1917. He conducted operations to reduce German domestic morale.[2]
Macdonogh was distrusted by Haig and Haig's intelligence adviserJohn Charteris, with whom he had an acrimonious correspondence. He presented figures to the War Cabinet in October 1917, pouring cold water on Haig's predictions that German manpower would be exhausted by the end of the year. An infamous entry in Haig's diary (15 October 1917) mentions that Macdonogh "is a Roman Catholic and is (perhaps unconsciously) influenced by information which reaches him from tainted (that is, Catholic) sources". He also predicted the date, time and location of the German March 1918 "Michael" Offensive, as did Charteris.[2]
He was appointedAdjutant-General to the Forces on 11 January 1918,[2] a post he held until September 1922.[12] He was promoted to temporarylieutenant-general in January 1919. He was considered for the position of British liaison officer with theWhite Russian leaderAdmiral Kolchak, but not appointed. He was promoted to permanent lieutenant-general on 10 September 1922. He retired from the Army on 11 September 1925.[2]
He was appointed CB in 1915, KCMG in 1917, KCB in 1920 and GBE on retirement.[2]
He served on the Royal Commission on Local Government 1923–1929. He held numerous directorships in business, banking and manufacturing, and was President of theFederation of British Industries in 1933–4. He was a Commissioner of theImperial War Graves Commission. He was active in theLondon Zoological Society and theRoyal Institute of International Affairs.[2]
During theWinter War of 1939–40, when Finland was being attacked by the USSR[13] he was President of the Anglo-Finnish Society, Vice-President of the Finland Fund, and a member of the Finnish Aid Bureau in 1940. In 1939-41 he served on the Control Committee for Regulation of Prices.[2]
He died on 10 July 1942, atTeddington,Middlesex.[2] His estate was valued for probate at £53,784 1s 10d (over £2,000,000 at 2016 prices).[14][2]
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Director of Military Intelligence 1916–1918 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Adjutant General 1918–1922 | Succeeded by |
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| National | |
| Other | |
