- Ivor Maxse
General Sir (Frederick) Ivor Maxse, KCB, CVO, DSO, (1862-1958) was a
World War I divisional and corps commander, and noted wartime trainer.He was born in London on
22 December 1862 . He was educated atRugby School and Sandhurst. He was commissioned in theRoyal Fusiliers and saw service in India. He transferred to theColdstream Guards in 1891, commanding its first battalion from 1903 to 1907. In 1910, he was promoted to command of the 1st Guards Brigade.As a divisional commander, he led
18th (Eastern) Division when it took all its objectives on the First Day of the Somme. He achieved this in part by hiding the division in no man's land before the battle was joined and having them closely follow the creeping barrage towards the German line. The division was "probably the best fighting division possessed by the British Army in 1916" and consisted entirely of volunteers from London and the south-east. [Nicholls, Jonathan "Cheerful Sacrifice: The Battle of Arras 1917" Pen & Sword, 1990, p12] In January 1917, Maxse had been given command of XVIII Corps, commanding them at Passchendaele. Maxse's speciality was training and he was moved from field command in June 1918, to become head of training, preparing men for the combination of assault and open warfare that was to characterise theHundred Days Offensive .Further reading
* Baynes, John "Far from a Donkey: Life of General Sir Ivor Maxse KCB CVO DSO" Brassey's (UK) Ltd, 1995, ISBN 1-857531-85-X
* Nicholls, Jonathan "Cheerful Sacrifice: The Battle of Arras 1917". Pen & Sword Books (February 2006) ISBN-10: 1844153266 ISBN-13: 978-1844153268References
External links
* [http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/maxse.htm Who's Who: Sir Ivor Maxse]
* [http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/people_maxse_ivor.html General Sir (Frederick) Ivor Maxse, 1862-1958]
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