Field MarshalWilliam Riddell Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood (13 September 1865 – 17 May 1951) was a highly decorated and distinguishedBritish Indian Army officer. He saw active service in theSecond Boer War on the staff ofLord Kitchener. Birdwood saw action again in theFirst World War, initially as commander of theAustralian and New Zealand Army Corps during theGallipoli campaign in 1915, leading the landings on the peninsula and then the evacuation later in the year, before becoming commander-in-chief of theFifth Army on theWestern Front during the closing stages of the war. He then went on to be general officer commanding theNorthern Army in India in 1920 andCommander-in-Chief, India, in 1925, and retired as a field marshal.
William Riddell Birdwood was born on 13 September 1865 inKirkee, India.[1] His father,Herbert Mills Birdwood, born in Bombay and educated in the UK, had returned to India in 1859 after passing theIndian Civil Service examination.[2] In 1861, Herbert Birdwood married Edith Marion Sidonie, the eldest daughter of Surgeon-Major Elijah George Halhed Impey of the Bombay Horse Artillery and postmaster-general of theBombay Presidency.[2] They had five sons and a daughter; William was their second son. At the time of William's birth, his father held positions in the Bombay legislative council, and went on to become a Bombay high court judge.[2] William Birdwood was educated atClifton College.[3][4]
After securing a militia commission in the 4th BattalionRoyal Scots Fusiliers in 1883,[5] which he resigned in March 1885,[6] Birdwood then trained at theRoyal Military College, Sandhurst, from which he was commissioned early, owing to the Russian war scare of 1885, becoming alieutenant in the12th (Prince of Wales's) Royal Lancers on 9 May 1885.[7] He joined his regiment in India and then transferred from the 12th Royal Lancers[8] to theBengal Staff Corps on 20 December 1886.[9] He subsequently transferred to the11th Bengal Lancers in 1887, seeing action on theNorth-West Frontier in 1891.[5]
He later becameadjutant of theViceroy's Bodyguard in 1893.[5] He was promoted tocaptain on 9 May 1896[10] and "served in theTirah campaign 1897–1898, at Chagru Kotal, Dargai, (18 October 1897); Saran Sar (9 November 1897); the Warran Valley (16 November 1897) and Dwatoi (24 November 1897). He wasmentioned in despatches for this campaign and went on leave to England in 1899".[5]
Birdwood served in theSecond Boer War, which began in October 1899, initially as abrigade major with a mounted brigade inNatal from 10 January 1900 and then as deputy assistant adjutant general on the staff of Major GeneralLord Kitchener from 15 October 1900.[11] Promoted tobrevet major on 20 November 1901[12] and locallieutenant colonel in October 1901,[13][14] he became military secretary to Lord Kitchener on 5 June 1902,[15] and followed him on his return to the United Kingdom on board the SSOrotava,[16] which arrived inSouthampton on 12 July 1902.[17] He received a brevet promotion to lieutenant colonel in the South African Honours list published on 26 June 1902.[18] In a despatch from June 1902, Lord Kitchener wrote the following about his work in South Africa:
When Kitchener went to India as commander-in-chief in November 1902, Birdwood joined him there as assistant military secretary and interpreter.[20][14] He was promoted to the substantive rank of major on 9 May 1903[21] and appointed military secretary to Lord Kitchener with the rank offull colonel on 26 June 1905.[22] Having been appointed anaide-de-camp tothe King on 14 February 1906,[23] he was given command of theKohat Brigade on the North West Frontier in 1908[24] and promoted to temporarybrigadier general on 28 June 1909.[25]
Promoted to the rank ofmajor general on 3 October 1911,[26] Birdwood becamequartermaster-general in India and a member of the Viceroy's Legislative Council in 1912 and then Secretary of the Indian Army Department in 1913.[14]
In November 1914 Birdwood was instructed by Kitchener to form an armycorps from the Australian and New Zealand troops that were training in Egypt.[14] He was promoted to temporarylieutenant general on 12 December 1914[27] and given command of theAustralian and New Zealand Army Corps.[14] Kitchener instructed GeneralSir Ian Hamilton,commander-in-chief of theMediterranean Expeditionary Force, to carry out an operation to capture theGallipoli peninsula and placed Birdwood's ANZAC Corps under Hamilton's command.[4] Hamilton ordered Birdwood to carry out alanding on 25 April 1915 north ofKabatepe at a site now known asANZAC Cove.[14] The ANZAC Corps encountered high ridges, narrow gullies, dense scrub and strongOttoman resistance and became pinned down.[4] Major-GeneralWilliam Bridges and Major-GeneralAlexander Godley, the divisional commanders, were both of the view that the Allied forces, dealing with stiffer-than-expected resistance, should be evacuated ahead of an expected attack by theOttoman Army.[28] Nevertheless, Hamilton ordered them to hold fast.[29]
Birdwood took effective command of theFirst Australian Imperial Force in May 1915 while still commanding Allied troops on the ground at Gallipoli.[4] He launched a major attack on Ottoman positions in August 1915 (theBattle of Sari Bair) but failed to dislodge them from the peninsula.[4] Notwithstanding this, Birdwood was the only corps commander opposed to abandoning Gallipoli.[14] He was promoted to the permanent rank of lieutenant general on 28 October 1915[30] and given command of the newly formedDardanelles Army: the one outstanding success of the campaign was the evacuation led by Birdwood, which took place in December 1915 and January 1916, when the entire force was withdrawn before any Ottoman reaction.[14]
In February 1916 the Australian and New Zealand contingents, back in Egypt, underwent reorganisation to incorporate the new units and reinforcements that had accumulated during 1915: the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps was replaced by two corps,I ANZAC Corps andII ANZAC Corps, and Birdwood reverted to the command of II ANZAC Corps. When I ANZAC Corps became the first to depart for France, Birdwood, as senior corps commander, took over command.[14] During early 1916 Birdwood advocated for the formation of anAustralian and New Zealand Army or a Dominion Army also including Canadian forces under his command, but this did not occur.[31][32]
Birdwood was promoted to the permanent rank of fullgeneral on 23 October 1917[33][34] with command of a formation then known as theAustralian Corps in November 1917.[14] He was also appointedaide-de-camp general tothe King on 2 November 1917[35] and given command of theBritish Fifth Army on 31 May 1918 and led the Army at the liberation ofLille in October 1918[36] and at the liberation ofTournai in November 1918.[37][14]
Birdwood was made aBaronet, ofAnzac and ofTotnes, in the County ofDevon, on 29 December 1919.[38] He toured Australia to great acclaim in 1920 and then became general officer commanding theNorthern Army in India in October of that year.[39][40] He was promoted tofield marshal (with thecorresponding honorary rank in theAustralian Military Forces) on 20 March 1925[41][42] and, having been appointed a Member of the Executive Council of theGovernor-General of India in July 1925,[43] he went on to beCommander-in-Chief, India, in August 1925.[39]
After leaving the service in 1930, Birdwood made a bid to becomeGovernor-General of Australia. He had the backing ofthe King and the British government. However, the Australian Prime MinisterJames Scullin insisted that his Australian nomineeSir Isaac Isaacs be appointed.[4] Instead, Birdwood was appointed Master ofPeterhouse, Cambridge on 20 April 1931[44] andCaptain of Deal Castle in 1934.[45][46] In 1935 he wrote for the Western Australian distance education magazineOur Rural Magazine, saying that he had two granddaughters making good use of distance educational courses.[47] In May 1936, he returned to Gallipoli aboardRMSLancastria and visitedwar memorials on the peninsula.[48][49] He retired from academic work in 1938.[39]
In retirement Birdwood wascolonel of the12th Royal Lancers (1920–1951),[50] the6th Gurkha Rifles (1926–1951),[51] and the Royal Horse Guards from 1933[52] along with the75th (Home Counties) (Cinque Ports) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery (1939–1951).[53] In January 1936 he attended the funeral ofKing George V[54] and in May 1937 he was present for thecoronation of King George VI.[55] He was raised to the peerage asBaron Birdwood, of Anzac and ofTotnes in theCounty of Devon, on 25 January 1938, in recognition of his wartime service.[56][57]
His autobiographyKhaki and Gown (1941) was followed byIn my time: recollections and anecdotes (1946).[1] Lord Birdwood died atHampton Court Palace, where he lived ingrace-and-favour apartments, on 17 May 1951, at the age of 85. He was buried at Twickenham Cemetery with fullmilitary honours;[4] the Australian Government pays for the upkeep of his grave.[58]
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Field Marshal Birdwood's Ribbon bar as it may have appeared in 1937[77][78][a]
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In 1893 Birdwood married Janetta Bromhead, daughter ofSir Benjamin Bromhead; they had a son and two daughters.[5] His wife died in 1947.[1] Their son,Christopher Birdwood (1899–1962), succeeded him as 2nd Baron Birdwood. The elder daughter was Constance 'Nancy' Birdwood,[79] and the younger daughter was Judith Birdwood. Other members of the Birdwood family include Labour minister and peerChristopher Birdwood Thomson (1875–1930), Anglo-Indian naturalistSir George Birdwood (1832–1917), andfar-rightpolitical activistJane Birdwood (1913–2000), the second wife of William Birdwood's son.[80]
The town of Blumberg, South Australia,changed its German name toBirdwood in 1918,[81] and thesoldier settlement ofBirdwoodton, Victoria, was named after Birdwood in 1920.[82]Mount Birdwood inAlberta, Canada, also bears his name.[83]
Birdwood House inGeraldton, Western Australia, which was built in 1935 for the GeraldtonRSL and named after Birdwood, has served as the centre ofANZAC Day commemorations in Geraldton since 1936. William Birdwood visited Birdwood House in Geraldton 1937 where he was presented with a gold key and Freedom of Birdwood House.[84][85] Birdwood House became Heritage Registered in 2016.[86][87]
Many streets and public spaces in Australia and New Zealand are named or commonly believed to be named after Birdwood, including Birdwood Park inNewcastle West in 1920[88] and a street inNew Lambton in 1919.[88]
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| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | General Officer Commanding Australian Imperial Force May 1915 – November 1919 | Succeeded by |
| New command | General Officer Commanding Australian and New Zealand Army Corps December 1914 – February 1916 | Organisation split into I Anzac Corps (Alexander Godley) II Anzac Corps (Birdwood) |
| New command (part ofAnzac Corps) | General Officer Commanding II ANZAC Corps February–March 1916 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | General Officer Commanding I ANZAC Corps March 1916 – May 1918 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | General Officer Commanding British Fifth Army May–November 1918 | Post disbanded |
| Preceded by | GOC-in-C, Northern Command, India 1920–1924 | Succeeded by |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by | Colonel of the12th Royal Lancers 1920–1951 | Succeeded by |
| Military offices | ||
| Preceded by | Commander-in-Chief, India 1925–1930 | Succeeded by |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by | Colonel of theRoyal Horse Guards 1933–1951 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baron Birdwood 1938–1951 | Succeeded by |
| Baronetage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baronet of Anzac 1919–1951 | Succeeded by |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by | Master ofPeterhouse, Cambridge 1931–1938 | Succeeded by |
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