James Aylmer Lowthorpe Haldane

General Sir James Aylmer Lowthorpe Haldane (17 November 1862 - 1950) was a British Army officer.

Born in to physician Daniel Rutherford Haldane and Margaret Rutherford (daughter of the physicist Daniel Rutherford), General Sir James Aylmer Lowthorpe Haldane came from a family of distinguised Scottish aristocrats based in Gleneagles. At the age of 20, Aylmer was commissioned as a British officer of the Gordon Highlanders in 1882, promoted to lieutenant on 18 February 1886.

He was part of the Waziristan Field Force and in Chitral between 1894 and 1895. Promoted to captain on 13 Aug 1896, he was soon dispatched to quell the Afridis rebellion in the Tirah campaign for the next two years (1897-1898). He also fought in the Second Boer War and First World War and the occupation of Iraq before retiring in 1925.

While imprisoned in Pretoria during the Boer War, he planned the escape which made Churchill famous. Haldane failed to escape at the same time and later complained of Churchill's lack of regard for those who should have escaped with him. However, Haldane did later manage his own escape.

He passed away in 1950. As of 2004, his remains are buried beneath his childhood home at 1460 Henry St. in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Quotes

"I regret that on my arrival in Mesopotamia I was too much occupied with military matters, and too ill-informed regarding the political problem." [Haldane, James A. L. (2005) "The Insurrection In Mesopotamia 1920". Nashville, TN : Battery Press. ISBN: 0-89839-339-6]

Movie Trivia

Captain Aylmer Haldane was portrayed in the 1972 movie " [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069528/#med Young Winston] " by British actor Edward Woodward, OBE (1930 - )

Bibliography

* Haldane, James A. L. (1900) "How we escaped from Pretoria". Edinburgh : William Blackwood & Sons.
* Haldane, James A. L. (1920) "A brigade of the old army, 1914, relating to operations of 10 Infantry Bde, France, Aug-Nov, 1914". London : Edward Arnold.
* Haldane, James A. L. (1929) "The Haldanes of Gleneagles". Edinburgh : William Blackwood & Sons.
* Haldane, James A. L. (1948) "A soldier's story: the autobiography of General Sir Aylmer Haldane". Edinburgh : William Blackwood & Sons.

Papers

*LIDDELL HART CENTRE FOR MILITARY ARCHIVES:"The papers of Lt Gen Sir Lawrence Worthington Parsons include letter from Haldane relating to 16 Irish Div 1916; the papers of Brig Sir James Edward Edmonds include 12 letters from Haldane 1905-1935" (ref: Edmonds)



*BRITISH LIBRARY, ORIENTAL AND INDIA OFFICE COLLECTIONS, LONDON:Copy of Haldane's official report, "Battle of the Sha-Ho, Second Japanese Army, operations from the 5th September to the 19th October, 1904" (ref: 9057.de.2)



*CHURCHILL ARCHIVES CENTRE, CHURCHILL COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY:The papers of Maj Gen Sir Edward Louis Spears include correspondence 1934-1938 (ref: SPRS 1/156)



*IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM, LONDON:Diary as 10 Bde Commander, Shorncliffe 1912-1914; The papers of FM Sir Henry Hughes Wilson include correspondence with Haldane 1920-1921 (ref: HHW)



*NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND, EDINBURGH:Collection of papers 1890-1950 (ref: MSS 20247-59); including letters and diaries; papers relating to his World War I service; papers relating to Mesopotamia 1920-1922

External links

* [http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/HALDANE.shtml Profile]
* [http://www.dean.usma.edu/HISTORY/web03/resources/resource%20pages/Mesopotamia/insurrection_mesopotamia.html The Insurrection in Mesopotamia, 1920 ]