- Andrew Hamilton Russell
Infobox Military Person
name=Sir Andrew Hamilton Russell
lived=23 February 1868 –29 November 1960
placeofbirth=Napier,New Zealand
placeofdeath=Tunanui,New Zealand
caption=
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|United KingdomUnited Kingdom
flagicon|New ZealandNew Zealand
branch=
serviceyears=1887-1892, 1900-1919, 1940-1941
rank=Major General
commands=Wellington Mounted Rifles BrigadeNew Zealand and Australian Division New Zealand Division
unit=
battles=World War I World War II
awards=Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St GeorgeDistinguished Service Order Mentioned in Dispatches on 9 occasions
laterwork=Returned Services' AssociationMajor General Sir Andrew Hamilton Russell KCB,KCMG , DSO (23 February 1868 -29 November 1960 ) was aWorld War I brigade and divisional commander; commanding initially theNew Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade , then theAustralian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) during the evacuation of Gallipoli and subsequently theNew Zealand Division on the Western Front.Early life and service
Russell was born on
23 February 1868 atNapier, New Zealand . He was sent to England to be educated, first atHarrow School , and then at theRoyal Military Academy Sandhurst which he graduated in 1887 with the sword of honour. He joined the 1stBorder Regiment , serving for five years in India and briefly in Burma. When his regiment returned to England in 1892, Russell resigned his commission to avoid English garrison life.Pugsley, Chris. " [http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=3R34 Russell, Andrew Hamilton 1868 - 1960] ". "Dictionary of New Zealand Biography", updated 22 June 2007.] He returned to New Zealand that year to help run the family's sheep farm, but in 1900 he formed the Hawke's Bay Mounted Rifle Volunteers as part of the embryonicNew Zealand Territorial Force . After commanding the9th (Wellington East Coast) Mounted Rifles , Russell was appointed Brigade Commander of theWellington Mounted Rifle Regiment in 1911 and promoted to colonel.World War I
Gallipoli
At the outbreak of
World War I Major General Alexander Godley, commander of the ofNew Zealand Expeditionary Force , offered Russell command of theNew Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade . Russell accepted and, after training in Egypt, the Mounted Rifles deployed to Gallipoli on12 February 1915 . Their horses remaining in Egypt, the Brigade acted as infantry based in the northern sector of the ANZAC perimeter, and did good service as scouts. The plateau that Russell established his headquarters on would come to be called 'Russell's Top'. He commanded his troops in theBattle of Chunuk Bair and the failed attack on Hill 60, before replacing Godley as commander of theNew Zealand and Australian Division and being promoted to major general.
Sir Ian Hamilton, commander of theMediterranean Expeditionary Force , had come to view Russell as 'the outstanding New Zealander on the (Gallipoli) peninsula', and on4 November 1915 he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George. Russell finished his time on Gallipoli overseeing the last 48 hours of the highly successful evacuation of the ANZAC force.Western Front
With the formation of the
New Zealand Division in March 1916, Russell was made division commander and arrived with the division in France the next month. With little time to prepare, theNew Zealand Division became operational in theArmentières sector of the Western Front in May. Soon it was involved in supporting the Somme Offensive, exposing problems and straining the men as extensive raids and patrols were carried out. Russell pushed for improvements, desiring as he did to have the best division in France. He inspected units daily and regularly visited the front line. Russell was a strict disciplinarian, and his response to high levels of desertion was to recommend executing those guilty of it (though only four were executed, and later pardoned in the year 2000 ['Pardon for Soldiers of the Great War Act 2000.' The Parliament of New Zealand, as at 3 September 2007 [http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2000/0029/latest/DLM67152.html?search=ts_act_pardon+great+war&sr=1 Legislation New Zealand] ] ).These early issues were overcome, and under Russell's leadership the New Zealand Division would gain a high reputation with success in
Battle of the Somme when committed in September 1916, and the capture of Messines in June 1917. Failure came however on October 12th that year at theBattle of Passchendaele , when the New Zealanders' second assault was repulsed with 2,735 casualties in what is still the costliest day in New Zealand's military history. Russell accepted the blame for the loss, in what military historianChristopher Pugsley called 'a rare example of a military commander's willingness to accept responsibility for failure', though Pugsley sees the main fault lying with the staff of General Alexander Godley. With a further failure at Polderhoek in December and the division spending winter in the Ypres salient, Russell worked to rebuild the division and its morale. Through 1918 he emphasised training in mobile warfare as tactics evolved, which would prove its worth in the closing months of the conflict during theHundred Days Offensive . In June Field Marshall Haig offered Russell command of a British corps, the onlyDominion commander to be asked, but he declined in order to stay with the New Zealanders. [Jones, Ronald. " [http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/R/RussellMajor-generalSirAndrewHamilton/RussellMajor-generalSirAndrewHamilton/en Russell, Major-General Sir Andrew Hamilton, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., D.S.O., etc.] " "An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand", 1966.]By the war's end, Russell had been made first a Companion then a Knight Commander of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, awarded the French
Légion d'honneur (croix d'officier) andCroix de guerre (avec palme), the Belgian Ordre de Léopold (commander) and Croix de guerre, the Serbian Order of the White Eagle (first class) and the MontenegrinOrder of Prince Danilo I , as well as beingMentioned in Despatches nine times. His health had suffered though, and he was nearly killed visiting the front line in 1917 by a bullet that passed through his steel helmet and creased his scalp.Later life
Russell commanded the
New Zealand Division for the remainder of the war and then returned to his farm in New Zealand. He became involved with theRoyal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association , serving as president between 1921 and 1924, and once more between 1927 and 1935. With the outbreak ofWorld War II Russell was made Inspector General of New Zealand Military Forces in 1940 until retiring again in July 1941.ee also
*
New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade
*New Zealand Division Notes
ources
* Jones, Ronald. " [http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/R/RussellMajor-generalSirAndrewHamilton/RussellMajor-generalSirAndrewHamilton/en Russell, Major-General Sir Andrew Hamilton, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., D.S.O., etc.] " "An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand", 1966.
* Pugsley, Chris. " [http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=3R34 Russell, Andrew Hamilton 1868 - 1960] ". "Dictionary of New Zealand Biography", updated 22 June 2007.
* " [http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/russell.htm Who's Who: Sir Andrew Russell] ". First World War.com, updated 26 January 2003
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