Sir Walter Braithwaite | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Braithwaite as a major general in 1915 during the First World War. | |
| Nickname(s) | "Braith"[1] |
| Born | (1865-11-11)11 November 1865 Alne, North Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 7 September 1945(1945-09-07) (aged 79) Rotherwick,Hampshire, England |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1886–1931 |
| Rank | General |
| Unit | Somerset Light Infantry Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) |
| Commands | Eastern Command (1926–27) Scottish Command (1923–26) Western Command, India (1920–23) XII Corps (1919) IX Corps (1918–19) 62nd Division (1917–18) Staff College, Quetta (1911−14) |
| Battles / wars | Second Boer War First World War |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Mentioned in Despatches |
GeneralSir Walter Pipon Braithwaite,GCB (11 November 1865 – 7 September 1945) was aBritish Army officer who held senior commands during theFirst World War. After being dismissed from his position as Chief of Staff for theMediterranean Expeditionary Force, he received some acclaim as a competent divisional commander on theWestern Front. After the war, he was commissioned to produce a report analysing the performance of British staff officers during the conflict.
Braithwaite was born inAlne, the son of the Reverend William Braithwaite and Laura Elizabeth Pipon.[2] He was the youngest of twelve children.[1] He was educated atVictoria College between 1875 and 1880, and atBedford School between 1880 and 1884.[3][4]
Braithwaite studied at theRoyal Military College, Sandhurst, and was commissioned as asubaltern, with the rank oflieutenant, into theSomerset Light Infantry on 30 January 1886.[5][2] He was promoted tocaptain on 8 November 1894.[6] He served in theSecond Boer War, seeing action atLadysmith,Spion Kop,Vaal Krantz andTugela Heights.[3] He wasmentioned in despatches three times and in a South Africa honours list received thebrevet rank ofmajor on 29 November 1900.[3] Staying in South Africa until the war ended, he only returned to the United Kingdom on the SSBriton three months later in September 1902.[7]
After his return he was in early October posted to Southern Command as a deputy assistant quartermaster-general on the staff ofSir Evelyn Wood, General Officer in Command of the2nd Army Corps.[8][3] In 1906, Braithwaite was promoted tomajor, and transferred toThe Loyal North Lancashire Regiment.[3][9] He was later promoted in January 1906 tolieutenant colonel and succeededRichard Haking as a deputy assistant adjutant general (DAAG) at theStaff College, Camberley.[3][10] In 1909, he was assigned to the staff ofDouglas Haig at theWar Office in London,[11] and promoted to brevetcolonel.[3][12] and full colonel in November.[13]
He gave up this appointment in January 1911 and then went onhalf-pay.[14] He only had to endure this until March, however, when he was subsequently promoted to temporary brigadier general and named commandant of theStaff College, Quetta,[15] a position he still held at the outbreak of theFirst World War in the summer of 1914.[1] At this point, the college was closed, and he was again transferred to England and the War Office, this time as director of staff duties, taking over from Major GeneralFrancis Davies.[1][16] While serving as commandant, he had been appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the1911 Coronation Honours in June 1911.[17]
In March 1915, seven months into the war, he was promoted to temporary major general[18] and appointed chief of staff to GeneralSir Ian Hamilton,[19] commander of theMediterranean Expeditionary Force (MEF), and served in this role throughout the disastrousGallipoli campaign.[20] He was regarded by many of the Australians involved in that effort as "arrogant and incompetent".[1]
After the failure of the Mediterranean expedition, Braithwaite, whose rank of major general became substantive in June 1915,[21] was recalled to London.[2] He was, in December 1915, assigned to command of the62nd (2nd West Riding) Division, aTerritorial Force (TF) formation, which was posted to theWestern Front in January 1917.[20] Here he experienced considerable success. Although the division struggled to make headway during theBattle of Arras in April 1917, it proved a solid and reliable unit during theGerman spring offensive in March the following year.[1]
Following success in repelling German advances atBullecourt andCambrai, Braithwaite, made a KCB in June 1918,[22] was promoted to temporary lieutenant general on 27 August 1918[23] and was later given command ofIX Corps on 13 September and, much later still,XII Corps.[20] On 29 September Braithwaite's IX Corps was on the southern front line at the village of Bellenglise facing the canal, when the order came from Haig to attack through theHindenburg Line. The assault was much more successful than earlier American and Australian efforts, encountering as they did, multiple gas attacks. The spearhead was led by the46th (North Midland) Division, a TF formation. As Major H. J. C. Marshall, a divisional staff officer, recorded that they were not expected to advance far, leaving that to the Americans and Australians to their left. If they could not get a foothold they were had orders to swim across the canal in ice cold water.[24] But divisional HQ had spared no effort to find all necessary equipment to achieve the objective. They advanced one hour later than the Americans under a hail of machine gun bullets and "cyclone of shells". A thick fog came down helping to mask them from German sight. Pushing on through the dawn's early light, a battalion of theNorth Staffordshire Regiment overran the Germanmachine gun positions;[25] the bridge's defenders were shot and killed, as the infantry fixed bayonets and charged. 5,000 Germanprisoners of war (POWs) were taken.[26] For almost the first time in the war the attack had been an outstanding success. Brathwaite received plaudits from Monash and Rawlinson.[27] The 46th Division recovered over 1,000 machine guns.[28] Weeks laterKing George V visited Bellenglise, the site where the Hindenburg Line was breached by a Territorial unit.[29]
Braithwaite was devastated by his son's death on 1 July 1916, thefirst day of theBattle of the Somme. Having no heir, he burnt all his family papers. As successes emerged on the battlefields in late 1918,Field MarshalSir Douglas Haig,Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of theBritish Expeditionary Force (BEF) on theWestern Front, was effusive in praise of his officers' and men's achievement, showing the friendship and esteem for which he was held by Braithwaite all his life.[30]
After the war, Braithwaite was commissioned by Haig to produce a report evaluating the performance of British staff officers in all theatres of the conflict.[20] Although the decision-making abilities of many staff officers (including Braithwaite) had been seriously questioned during the war, Braithwaite's report was generally favourable.[20]
He became general officer commanding-in-chiefWestern Command, India in December 1920,[31] which he relinquished command of in June 1923.[32] He was then GOC-in-C atScottish Command in 1923, in succession to GeneralSir Francis Davies,[33][34] and then GOC-in-C atEastern Command in February 1926[35][36] during which time he was promoted to general in April.[37] In March 1927 he was appointedAdjutant-General to the Forces.[38] Later that month, following the death of GeneralSir Walter Congreve, he became anaide-de-camp general to KingGeorge V.[39] In early 1928 he was in charge of arranging Field Marshal Haig's funeral. He relinquished his appointment of adjutant general[40] and retired in 1931.[36][41]
He served as a commissioner of theCommonwealth War Graves Commission from 1927 to 1931, as Governor of theRoyal Hospital Chelsea from October 1931[42]to 1938, and asKing of Arms of the Order of the Bath from 1933 until his death.[2]
He died at his home inRotherwick, Hampshire on 7 September 1945, at the age of 79.[4]
Braithwaite married in 1895 Jessie Ashworth, with whom he had a son, Valentine. Captain Valentine Braithwaite MC was killed in action at Serre while serving with his father's former regiment, the Somerset Light Infantry, on 1 July 1916 aged 20.[43]
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Commandant of the Staff College, Quetta 1911−1914 | Succeeded by College closed |
| Preceded by | GOC 62nd (2nd West Riding) Division 1915−1918 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | GOC IX Corps 1918–1919 | Succeeded by Post disbanded |
| Preceded by New post | GOC-in-C, Western Command, India 1920–1923 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | GOC-in-C Scottish Command 1923–1926 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | GOC-in-C Eastern Command 1926–1927 | Succeeded by Sir Robert Whigham |
| Preceded by Sir Robert Whigham | Adjutant General 1927–1931 | Succeeded by |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by | Colonel of the Somerset Light Infantry 1929–1938 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Governor, Royal Hospital Chelsea 1931–1938 | Succeeded by |
| Heraldic offices | ||
| Preceded by | King of Arms of the Order of the Bath 1933–1946 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
