The Lord Nicholson | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Born | (1845-03-02)2 March 1845 Roundhay Park,Leeds, England |
| Died | 13 September 1918(1918-09-13) (aged 73) London, England |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch | British Army |
| Years of service | 1865–1912 1914–1918 |
| Rank | Field Marshal |
| Commands | Chief of the Imperial General Staff |
| Battles / wars | Second Anglo-Afghan WarMahdist War Third Anglo-Burmese War Second Boer War First World War |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Mentioned in Despatches Order of Osmanieh, 4th Class (Ottoman Empire) |
Field MarshalWilliam Gustavus Nicholson, 1st Baron Nicholson,GCB (2 March 1845 – 13 September 1918) was aBritish Army officer who served in theSecond Anglo-Afghan War, theMahdist War, theThird Anglo-Burmese War, theSecond Boer War and theFirst World War. He becameChief of the Imperial General Staff and was closely involved in the reorganisation of the British Army in the early years of the 20th century.
Nicholson was born in Roundhay, Leeds, the second-youngest son of William Nicholson Nicholson (who had been born with the surname of Phillips but in 1827 assumed his mother's surname of Nicholson) and Martha Nicholson (née Rhodes).[1] Nicholson graduated fromLeeds Grammar School in 1863 and entered theRoyal Military Academy, Woolwich, where he was awarded thePollock Medal the following year.[2]
Nicholson was commissioned as a lieutenant in theRoyal Engineers on 21 March 1865.[3] From 1868 to 1871 he was employed on coastal fortification work inBarbados,West Indies.[2] Following this he was posted toIndia, with the Public Works Department atHyderabad, thePunjab Irrigation Branch, and atRawalpindi andPeshawar on barrack work and the construction of Army waterworks.[1]
Nicholson was promoted to the rank ofcaptain on 16 March 1878,[4] and posted toAfghanistan, seeing service in theSecond Anglo-Afghan War.[2] He served in the first campaign as Field Engineer,Kandahar Field Force from 10 October 1878 to 5 March 1879, and as Royal Engineers Commander for the Thal-Chotiali Field Force from 6 March to 30 April 1879. During the second campaign of the war he served first as Field Engineer, 1st Division,Kabul Field Force from 23 September 1879 until 7 August 1880, being present at the action near Surkai Kotal on 14 October 1879, the defence of the Shutargardan in October 1879 and the defence of theLataband in December 1879.[1] He then served as Field Engineer, Kabul-Kandahar Field Force, taking part in the advance to the relief ofKandahar, and being present at theBattle of Kandahar.[1] During the Afghanistan campaigns, he was three times mentioned in despatches and was awarded a campaign medal with three clasps.[2]
He was appointed Secretary of the Defence Committee atSimla in 1880 and was given the brevet rank ofmajor on 1 March 1881.[5] His time as secretary was interrupted by service in Egypt in 1882, where he served with the Indian contingent in the Egyptian Campaign.[2] His force made a successful flanking movement at the battle of Tel-el-Kebir[2] and opened up the way toCairo by cutting the enemy's railway system nearZagazig, where Nicholson, then with the cavalry, captured four trains under steam, which were later used to transport British infantry. His efforts earned him another campaign medal with clasp, theOrder of Osmanieh (4th Class),[6] and the Khedive's Star. He was promoted to the substantive rank of major on 21 March 1885.[7]
From 1885 he served as Assistant Adjutant General,Royal Engineers inBengal.[2] Service in theThird Anglo-Burmese War, which stamped out theguerrilla activities that followed the overthrow of KingThibaw Min, earned Nicholson a further mention in despatches[8] and promotion to the rank of brevet lieutenant colonel on 1 July 1887.[9]
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Nicholson was appointed Military Secretary toLord Roberts, Commander-in-Chief in India on 1 July 1890[10] and granted the substantive rank ofcolonel on 1 January 1891.[11] He was appointed aCompanion of the Order of the Bath in theQueen's Birthday Honours 1891.[12] He was employed with the Military Works Department, India as a chief engineer from 1893 and was appointed Adjutant General for thePunjab with rank ofbrigadier general in 1895.[2]
Nicholson saw service on the North West Frontier of India as Chief of Staff for theTirah Campaign in 1897 to 1898.[2] Lieutenant GeneralSir William Lockhart mentioned him in despatches referring to his "brilliant abilities" on 29 March 1898.[13] He was awarded a campaign medal with two clasps and advanced to aKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 20 May 1898.[14] He was madeAdjutant-General in India on 24 February 1899.[15]
He was again appointed as Military Secretary to Lord Roberts, now Commander-in-Chief in South Africa, on 23 December 1899 during theSecond Boer War,[16] and was granted the local rank ofmajor-general.[17] He went on to be Director of Transport on 18 February 1900.[18] Nicholson was mentioned in Lord Roberts' despatch dated 31 March 1900: in this despatch Lord Roberts wrote, "...Colonel Sir W. Nicholson (local Major-Gen.), R.E., undertook, at my request, organisation of a transport department in the limited time available; he performed this duty with conspicuous ability."[19] He was present at theBattle of Paardeberg and at the actions atPoplar Grove,Driefontein, Vet and Zand Rivers, and in operations nearJohannesburg,Pretoria and Diamond Hill, and in the operations in theTransvaal, east of Pretoria, during the latter half of 1900.[1] In the South African honours list published in April 1901, he was promoted to the substative rank of major-general for distinguished service in the field, dated 23 December 1899 (the date he was granted that rank locally in South Africa).[20]
Nicholson returned to London in late December 1900,[21] was appointedDirector-General of Mobilisation and Military Intelligence at Headquarters on 1 May 1901[22] and was promoted to lieutenant general on 4 November 1901.[23] Between May and September 1902, as part of the recentAnglo-Japanese Alliance, Nicholson negotiated secret military intelligence cooperation agreements with Major GeneralFukushima Yasumasa, of theJapanese General Staff. Fukushima was ostensibly in London to representEmperor Meiji at thecoronation ofKing Edward VII on 9 August.[24] Nicholson was made a Knight of Grace of theVenerable Order of Saint John on 5 March 1903[25] and madeChief Military Attaché to theImperial Japanese Army inManchuria in 1904 during theRusso-Japanese War.[26] He was appointedQuartermaster-General to the Forces and Member of theArmy Council on 18 December 1905[27] earning promotion togeneral on 23 October 1906.[28]
He was appointed asChief of the General Staff (CGS) on 2 April 1908,[29] and, having been advanced to aKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in theKing's Birthday Honours 1908,[30] found his role re-designatedChief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS) on 22 November 1909.[31] He was appointedaide-de-camp general tothe King on 1 July 1910.[32] In July 1910 he took part in the funeral procession following the death ofKing Edward VII.[33]
As CIGS Nicholson was closely involved in the reorganisation of the British Army, consolidating theTerritorial Force and the creation of a modern general staff.[1] He was promoted tofield marshal on 19 June 1911.[34]
Nicholson had a sharp tongue and one occasionAdmiral Fisher askedMaurice Hankey to stop "Old Nick" "stamping his hoof on his toes".[35]
At theCommittee of Imperial Defence meeting after theAgadir Crisis theFirst Sea Lord AdmiralArthur Wilson said that in the event of war the Navy planned to land the Army on the Baltic Coast. Nicholson asked Wilson whether the Admiralty had maps of German strategic railways (to show how the Germans could rush reinforcements to invasion spots), and when Wilson said it was not the Admiralty's business to have such maps, Nicholson openly rebuked him and said that if the Navy "meddled" in military matters they needed not just to have such maps but to have studied them. Prime MinisterH.H. Asquith ordered the Navy to fall in with the Army's plans to deploy an Expeditionary Force to France.[35]
Nicolson retired in March 1912 and was raised to thepeerage asBaron Nicholson, ofRoundhay in the County of York on 4 October 1912.[36]
From autumn 1914, shortly after the outbreak of theFirst World War, he served on theCommittee of Imperial Defence, investigating the conduct of operations inGallipoli andMesopotamia and in 1916 he was appointed to theDardanelles Commission.[26]
Nicolson was alsocolonel commandant, Royal Engineers from October 1916.[37] His other duties included those of Chairman of the Territorial Forces Association forLondon.[1] Less than two months beforeArmistice Day, Lord Nicholson died in his home at 15 Pont Street, London, aged 73.[1] He left no heirs and the barony died with him.[37] He was buried inBrompton Cemetery, London.[1]
In 1871 he married Victorie d' Allier (née Dillon); they had no children.[1]
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Adjutant-General, India 1898–1901 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by John Ardagh (As Director of Military Intelligence) | Director General of Mobilisation and Military Intelligence 1901–1904 | Succeeded by James Grierson (As Director of Military Operations) |
| Preceded by | Quartermaster-General to the Forces 1905–1908 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chief of the General Staff 1908–1909 | Succeeded by Position abolished |
| Preceded by New position | Chief of the Imperial General Staff 1909–1912 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baron Nicholson 1912–1918 | Extinct |
