Alexander Hamilton-Gordon (British Army officer, born 1859)

Lieutenant General Sir Alexander Hamilton-Gordon KCB (6 July 1859 – 13 February 1939) was a British general during World War I.

Sir Alexander Hamilton-Gordon
1917 portrait by Francis Dodd
Born6 July 1859
Died13 February 1939 (aged 79)
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
RankLieutenant General
Commands heldIX Corps
Battles/warsSecond Anglo-Afghan War
Second Boer War
First World War
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Mention in Despatches (4)

Early life

Hamilton-Gordon was one of ten children of General Sir Alexander Hamilton-Gordon, K.C.B. and Caroline Herschel. His paternal grandfather was George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1852 until 1855. His maternal grandfather was John Herschel.

Military career

Educated at Winchester College, Hamilton-Gordon was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1880.[1] His first military service was in the Second Anglo-Afghan War in 1880.[1] Hamilton-Gordon later served in the Boer War taking part in actions at Ladysmith, Spion Kop, Vaal Kranz and Tugela Heights.[1] He became Deputy Assistant Adjutant General for Intelligence in South Africa in early 1901.[1] Arriving back in the United Kingdom, he briefly became an instructor at the School of Gunnery before he was appointed a Deputy Assistant Quarter-Master-General at Aldershot in October 1901.[2][3]

In 1910, he took a posting as Director of Military Operations in India, where he served until 1914, when he became General Officer Commanding-in-Chief for Aldershot Command.[1] In 1916, he was given command of IX Corps,[1] serving at the Battle of Messines and the Third Battle of the Aisne. He was relieved in 1918 and retired in 1920.[1]

He died in 1939.

Family

In 1888, he married Isabel Newmarch, with whom he had three children.[4]

References

  1. Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
  2. "No. 27387". The London Gazette. 13 December 1901. p. 8840.
  3. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36597). London. 28 October 1901. p. 10.
  4. ThePeerage.com
Military offices
Preceded by
Sir Douglas Haig
GOC-in-C Aldershot Command
1914 1916
Succeeded by
Sir Archibald Hunter
Preceded by
Julian Byng
GOC IX Corps
1916 1918
Succeeded by
Walter Braithwaite
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