The Viscount Plumer | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byAlexander Bassano, 1899 | |
| Born | (1857-03-13)13 March 1857 Kensington,London, England, United Kingdom |
| Died | 16 July 1932(1932-07-16) (aged 75) Knightsbridge, London, England, United Kingdom |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1876–1919 |
| Rank | Field Marshal |
| Unit | 65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment of Foot York and Lancaster Regiment |
| Commands | British Army of the Rhine Second Army Northern Command 5th Division 7th Division 10th Division 4th Brigade |
| Battles / wars | Mahdist War Second Matabele War Second Boer War First World War |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Mentioned in Despatches |
| Other work | High Commissioner of Palestine |
Field MarshalHerbert Charles Onslow Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer (13 March 1857 – 16 July 1932) was a seniorBritish Army officer who fought in theFirst World War, being perhaps most notable for commanding theSecond Army of theBritish Expeditionary Force on theWestern Front from 1915 to 1918.
Herbert Plumer was son of Hall Plumer of Malpas Lodge,Torquay, Devon (a grandson ofSir Thomas Plumer), and Louisa Alice, daughter of Henry Turnley, of Kensington. He was educated atEton College and theRoyal Military College, Sandhurst.[1]
Plumer wascommissioned as alieutenant into the65th Regiment of Foot on 11 September 1876.[2] He joined his regiment in India and became adjutant of his battalion on 29 April 1879.[3]
Promoted tocaptain on 29 May 1882,[4] he accompanied his battalion to theSudan in 1884 as part of theNile Expedition.[5] Plumer was present at thebattle of El Teb in February 1884 and thebattle of Tamai in March, and wasmentioned in dispatches.[6] He spent from 1886 to 1887 attending theStaff College at Camberley, England, before being appointed deputy assistant adjutant general inJersey on 7 May 1890.[7]
He was promoted tomajor on 22 January 1893 and posted to the 2nd Battalion theYork and Lancaster Regiment before being appointed assistant military secretary to the General Officer Commanding Cape Colony in December 1895.[6] He went toSouthern Rhodesia in 1896 to disarm the local police force following theJameson Raid and then later that year returned there to command the Matabele Relief Force during theSecond Matabele War.[6] He became deputy assistant adjutant-general atAldershot with promotion to brevetlieutenant colonel on 8 May 1897.[8]
In 1899 Plumer returned toSouthern Rhodesia where he raised a force of mounted infantry and, having been promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant colonel on 17 October 1900,[9] he led them at theRelief of Mafeking during theSecond Boer War.[6] He was promoted tocolonel on 29 November 1900 and was then given command of a mixed force which captured GeneralChristiaan de Wet's wagon train at Hamelfontein in February 1901.[6]
Plumer arrived back in the United Kingdom in April 1902,[10] and two months later was received in audience by KingEdward VII on his return.[11] In adespatch dated 23 June 1902, Major GeneralLord Kitchener, Commander-in-Chief in South Africa during the latter part of the war, wrote how Plumer had "invariable displayed military qualifications of a very high order. Few officers have rendered better service."[12] He was promoted tomajor general for distinguished service in the field on 22 August 1902,[13] and was appointed Commander of the4th Brigade within1st Army Corps on 1 October 1902.[14][15] The following year he becameGeneral Officer Commanding10th Division within IV Army Corps and General Officer CommandingEastern District in December 1903.[16] He becameQuartermaster-General to the Forces in February 1904, General Officer Commanding7th Division in April 1906 and General Officer Commanding5th Division within Irish Command in May 1907.[16] Promoted tolieutenant general on 4 November 1908, he went on to beGeneral Officer Commanding-in-Chief forNorthern Command in November 1911.[17]
In addition to his military duties, he served as theCommissioner forLondon Boy Scouts from 1910 to 1912.[18]
Following the unexpected death of Lieutenant GeneralSir James Grierson on his arrival in France in 1914, Plumer was considered for command of one of two corps of theBritish Expeditionary Force (BEF) alongside the GOCI Corps, Lieutenant GeneralDouglas Haig: this position eventually went to General SirHorace Smith-Dorrien.[19] Plumer was sent to France in February 1915 and given command ofV Corps which he led at theSecond Battle of Ypres in April 1915.[20]
He succeeded Smith-Dorrien in command of theSecond Army of the BEF in May and, having been promoted to full general on 11 June 1915,[21] and having been largely unemployed during the battles of the previous two years, he won an overwhelming victory over theImperial German Army at theBattle of Messines in June 1917. The battle started with the simultaneous explosion of aseries of mines placed by theRoyal Engineers' tunnelling companies beneath German lines. The detonation created19 large craters and was described as theloudest explosion in human history.[22] After the mines were fired, Plumer's men left their trenches and advanced 3,000 yards.[19] He won further victories at thebattle of the Menin Road Ridge and thebattle of Polygon Wood in September 1917 and thebattle of Broodseinde in October 1917 advancing another 5,000 yards in the process.[19]
In November 1917 Plumer, who in August had been made colonel of the York and Lancaster Regiment,[23] was given command of theItalian Expeditionary Force sent to theItalian Front after thedisaster at Caporetto.[20] Early in 1918, Plumer was sought byLloyd George for the position ofChief of the Imperial General Staff as a replacement for GeneralSir William Robertson: he declined the position.[19]
Plumer instead commanded the Second Army during the final stages of the war, during theGerman spring offensive and the AlliedHundred Days Offensive.[20]
Plumer was appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief theBritish Army of the Rhine in December 1918 andGovernor of Malta in May 1919.[24] He was promoted tofield marshal on 31 July 1919, and was createdBaron Plumer of Messines and of Bilton on 18 October 1919.[25]
In August 1925 he was appointedHigh Commissioner of theBritish Mandate for Palestine.[26] He resisted Arab pressure to reverse commitments made by theBritish Government in theBalfour Declaration, and dealt firmly with both theZionists and the Arab Nationalists.[27] On one occasion, an Arab delegation protested a proposal by Jewish battalions to install their regimental colours in the chief synagogues, saying they "wouldn't be responsible for the consequences". Plumer replied, 'That's all right, you're not asked to be responsible for the consequences. I'll be responsible."[28][29] In Mandatory Palestine Plumer gained a reputation as being "genuinely even handed" and was one of the few British administrators who was consistently popular with both the Jewish community and the Arab community in that territory. Privately, he was sympathetic to the cause of establishing a homeland for the Jewish people but he tried his best to "be fair" to Arab concerns as well while he was High Commissioner.[30]
On 24 July 1927 he conducted theinauguration ceremony for theMenin Gate memorial atYpres inBelgium.[31]
Plumer, placed onhalf-pay in November 1928,[32] was createdViscount Plumer for his "long and distinguished public services" on 3 June 1929.[33]
Plumer died at his home inKnightsbridge inLondon on 16 July 1932 at the age of 75. His body was interred inWestminster Abbey.[27]
In July 1884 Plumer married Annie Constance Goss (1858–1941), daughter of George and Eleanor Goss; they had three daughters and one son.[19] Their youngest daughter, Marjorie, marriedMaj. W.H. Brooke who had studied atUniversity College, Oxford and was a chief mourner at theLeeds funeral ofRobert Middleton in October 1912.[34][35]
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The chief mourners were -...Mr W. Brooke (Leafield, Moor Allerton)...Mr. W. H. Brooke (University College, Oxford)...
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| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | GOC Eastern District 1903–1904 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Quartermaster-General to the Forces 1904–1905 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | GOC 7th Division 1906–1907 | Post disbanded |
| Preceded by | GOC 5th Division 1907–1909 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | GOC-in-C Northern Command 1911–1914 | Succeeded by |
| New command | GOC V Corps February 1915 – May 1915 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | GOC Second Army 1915–1917 | Succeeded by |
| New command | C-in-C British Army of the Rhine 1918–1919 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Malta 1919–1924 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | High Commissioner of Palestine 1925–1928 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Viscount Plumer 1929–1932 | Succeeded by |
| Baron Plumer 1919–1932 | ||
Civil commissioners (1799–1813) | |
|---|---|
Governors (1813–1964).svg) | |
Governors-general (1964–1974).svg) | |
Herbert Samuel (1920–1925) •Herbert Plumer (1925–1928) •Harry Luke (acting in 1928) •John Chancellor (1928–1931) •Arthur Grenfell Wauchope (1931–1938) •Harold MacMichael (1938–1944) •John Vereker (1944–1945) •Alan Cunningham (1945–1948) |
