Edward James Montagu-Stuart-Wortley

Major-General Edward James Montagu-Stuart-Wortley, CB, CMG, MVO, DSO (31 July 1857 – 19 March 1934) was a British general during the First World War who is best remembered as the first British general to be dismissed during the Battle of the Somme. He was a younger son of Francis Dudley Montagu-Stuart-Wortley and nephew of Edward Montagu-Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Wharncliffe.

During the battle of Omdurman, Wortley led a band of Arab irregulars who secured the east bank of the Nile.

On 1 June, 1914, Major General Montagu-Stuart-Wortley became GOC of the British 46th (North Midland) Division, a Territorial Force division. In October 1915, the Division saw action in France during the Battle of Loos when it made a costly attack against the Hohenzollern Redoubt. Wortley proposed a bombing attack, but was overuled and ordered to go ahead with a frontal attack by General Richard Haking (his Corps commander) [Andrew Rawson, "Loos-Hohenzollern" (Battleground Europe series, Pen & Sword Books, 2003)] . In the event, the attack was a disastrous failure and the Division lost 180 officers and 3,583 men killed wounded or missing. The action was described in the Official History as a ‘tragic waste of infantry’.

Wortley incurred Haig's displeasure by writing regularly to King George V about the activities of the 46th Division (despite having the permission of Sir John French to do so) [John Bourne, Centre for First World War Studies (www.firstworldwar.bham.ac.uk/donkey/wortley.htm)] . This and the disagreement with Haking about the Hohenzollern Redoubt attack left Wortley as a "marked man" against whom Haig conspired" [Alan MacDonald,"A Lack of Offensive Spirit?" (Iona Books, 2008)] . At the time opening of the Somme, he was a few weeks short of his 59th birthday, but in ill-health, suffering from sciatica. Despite his experience, he was "past his fighting best" [Richar Holmes, "Tommy (HarperCollins, 2004, page 231)] and his fitness for operational command was questionable. One officer later described him in 1916 as:

:"a worn-out man, who never visited his front line and was incapable of inspiring any enthusiasm."

As part of General Sir Edmund Allenby's Third Army, the 46th Division was involved in the diversion at Gommecourt on the first day on the Somme, 1 July, 1916. The initial assault at 7.30am had failed completely and Montagu-Stuart-Wortley was called upon to renew the attack at midday, the neighbouring 56th Division having made some progress and needing support. With no artillery preparation or smoke screen, it was clear to Montagu-Stuart-Wortley that there was no prospect of success so at 3.30pm he ordered a token effort to be made by two companies. In the end only one platoon went over with only one man surviving unscathed.

The division's attack failed completely and it had the distinction of suffering the lowest casualties, 2 455 killed, wounded and missing, of all 13 British divisions involved on the day. In the opinion of the VII Corps commander, Lieutenant General Thomas D'Oyly Snow:

:"the 46th Division ... showed a lack of offensive spirit. I can only attribute this to the fact that its commander, Major-General the Hon. E.J. Montagu-Stuart-Wortley, is not of an age, neither has he the constitution, to allow him to be as much among his men in the front lines as is necessary to imbue all ranks with confidence and spirit."

General Allenby ordered a Court of Inquiry but on 5 July, before it had even delivered its findings, he sacked Montagu-Stuart-Wortley. Given that Montagu-Stuart-Wortley's orders prior to the attack had been "to occupy the ground that is won by the artillery" his dismissal remains a subject of controversy. According to Alan MacDonald, "the Division and its General were made scapegoats for the failure of a fatally flawed concept dreamt up by higher authority - the diversionary attack at Gommecourt" [Alan MacDonald,"A Lack of Offensive Spirit?" (Iona Books, 2008)] .

External links

* [http://www.firstworldwar.bham.ac.uk/donkey/wortley.htm Centre for First World War Studies: Edward James Montagu-Stuart-Wortley]

Notes