George Thesiger

Infobox Military Person
name= George Handcock Thesiger
lived= 6 October, 1868 - 27 September, 1915
placeofbirth=
placeofdeath= Hohenzollern Redoubt, Loos, France


caption= George Handcock Thesiger
nickname=
allegiance= flagicon|United Kingdom United Kingdom
serviceyears= 1890 to 1915
rank= Major-General
branch=
commands= 9th (Scottish) Infantry Division
unit= Rifle Brigade, King's African Rifles, General Staff
battles= Nile Expedition, Second Boer War, First World War
awards= Companion of the Bath, Companion of St Michael and St George
laterwork=

Major-General George Handcock Thesiger, CB, CMG (6 October, 1868 - 27 September, 1915) was a senior officer in the British Army during World War I who was killed in action during the battle of Loos by German shellfire. His career had encompassed military service in Egypt, South Africa, Ireland, British India and France and had been rewarded with membership in two chivalric orders.

Early career

Thesiger was born in October 1868 into the Thesiger family, the son of Lieutenant General Charles Wemyss Thesiger and Charlotte Elizabeth Handcock. He was the middle of three children, with one older sister, Ethel Mary, and one younger brother, Gerald. [http://www.thepeerage.com/p5839.htm#i58383 Maj-Gen. George Handcock Thesiger] , "thePeerage.com", Retrieved 06 July 2007] He was the grandson of the politician Frederic Thesiger, 1st Baron Chelmsford and nephew of Major-General Frederic Thesiger and the judge Alfred Henry Thesiger. [http://www.thepeerage.com/p20931.htm#i209301 Right Hon. Alfred Henry Thesiger QC] , "thePeerage.com", Retrieved 15 July 2007] [http://www.thepeerage.com/p3787.htm#i37870 Frederic Thesiger, 1st Baron Chelmsford] , "thePeerage.com", Retrieved 15 July 2007] [http://www.thepeerage.com/p2867.htm#i28663 Maj-Gen. George Sir Frederic Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford] , "thePeerage.com", Retrieved 15 July 2007]

Thesiger was educated at Eton College before attending the Royal Military College, Sandhurst for training as an infantry officer. P.106–107, "Bloody Red Tabs", Davies & Maddocks] In 1890, Thesiger was Gazetted into the Rifle Brigade as a junior officer aged 22 and served with his unit in England until 1898, when the regiment was dispatched to Egypt. [LondonGazette|issue=26034|startpage=1647|date=18 March 1890|accessdate=2007-11-28] There the Rifle Brigade served on the Nile expedition under Horatio Kitchener during the Mahdist War and as present at the battle of Omdurman which decided the campaign.

The Rifle Brigade was then briefly stationed in Crete during operations to maintain peace between Turkish and Greek populations on the island. In October 1899, Thesiger and the second battalion were sent for service in South Africa in the aftermath of the outbreak of the Second Boer War. There Thesiger saw action and was badly wounded during the battle at Wagon Hill during the siege of Ladysmith on the 6 January 1900. He was mentioned in dispatches for his conduct during the engagement.

Evacuated to Britain to recover from his wounds, Thesiger attended the Staff College and between 1902 and 1906 was in charge of musketry practice on Salisbury Plain, from there he moved to Ireland to work as Assistant Military Secretary to the GOC in Dublin until 1909. From there he was assigned to colonial service as the Inspector General of the King's African Rifles and in 1913 was dispatched to India as a Lieutenant Colonel to command the 4th Battalion of the Rifle Brigade. [LondonGazette|issue=28778|startpage=8892|date=2 December 1913|accessdate=2007-11-28] In 1913 in reward for his distinguished service he was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, [LondonGazette|issue=28724|startpage=3905|date=30 May 1913|accessdate=2007-11-28] and the following year was also made a Companion of the Order of the Bath.

In 1902, Thesiger married Frances Fremantle, daughter of General Fitzroy William Fremantle, and the couple had two children, daughter Oona Thesiger (later Buckley) and son Gerald Thesiger, who became a notable High Court Judge and minor politician.

First World War

At the outbreak of the First World War, Thesiger and his men were still in India and so did not arrive in Europe until December 1914 when the campaign in France was already well advanced. In May 1915 he was promoted to (temporary) Brigadier-General [LondonGazette|issue=29177|startpage=5214|date=1 June 1915|accessdate=2007-11-28] and given command of the 2nd Infantry Brigade serving in the trenches during the spring of 1915, where he was again mentioned in dispatches. In August 1915, due to the shortage of senior officers, Thesiger was again promoted to (temporary) Major-General [LondonGazette|issue=29283|startpage=8733|date=3 September 1915|accessdate=2007-11-28] and placed in charge of the 33rd Infantry Division, one of the new Kitchener Divisions. He was only in this position for two months when he was again transferred to the 9th (Scottish) Division, another new division which he would command during the opening of the battle of Loos.

Two days after the battle opened, Thesiger's division was suffering heavy casualties and reports were reaching divisional headquarters that the 73rd Infantry Brigade was on the verge of breaking. Thesiger immediately departed for the frontline to investigate the situation with his divisional staff and was touring a trench named Fosse 8 opposite the Hohenzollern Redoubt when the German artillery opened fire on the British positions. One of the first shells fired exploded directly in the trench occupied by the 26th Brigade where the party was sheltering, instantly killing Major General Thesiger and his aides Major Le Mottee and Lieutenant Burney. [LondonGazette|issue=29347|supp=yes|startpage=10753|endpage=10757|date=29 October 1915|accessdate=2007-11-28] None of their bodies were removed from the battlefield as fighting continued for another day and consequently only Burney's remains were recovered — sometime later. General Thesiger's name is amongst the 20,000 recorded on the Loos Memorial to the missing. [cite web|url=http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=1770535|title=Commonwealth War Graves Commission - casualty details|publisher=Commonwealth War Graves Commission|accessdate=2007-11-28]

Notes

References

*cite book
author= Frank Davies & Graham Maddocks| title=Bloody Red Tabs
date=1995
publisher=Leo Cooper
id=ISBN 0-850524-63-6
* cite web
title = Maj–Gen. George Handcock Thesiger
work = thePeerage.com
url = http://www.thepeerage.com/p5839.htm#i58383

Persondata
NAME=Thesiger, George Handcock
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= British First World War general
DATE OF BIRTH=6 October 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH=Islington, London
DATE OF DEATH=27 September 1915
PLACE OF DEATH=Loos, France