William Lambton (British Army officer)

Major-General the Honourable Sir William Lambton, KCB, CMG, CVO, DSO (4 December 1863 – 11 October 1936) was a British Army officer who commanded 4th Division during the First World War.

Sir William Lambton
Born4 December 1863
Died11 October 1936
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service1884–1920
RankMajor-general
Commands held1st Bn Coldstream Guards
4th Division
Battles/warsMahdist War
Second Boer War
First World War
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath

Military career

Born the son of George Lambton, 2nd Earl of Durham[1] he was educated at Eton College and the Royal Military College Sandhurst.[2]

Lambton was commissioned a lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards on 6 February 1884,[3] promoted to captain on 18 May 1892, and became aide-de-camp to the Governor General of Ireland in 1895, before he served with the Egyptian Army.[3] He took part in the Nile expedition of 1898 and fought at the Battle of Atbara and the Battle of Omdurman, and was promoted to major on 29 September 1898.[3]

Following the outbreak of the Second Boer War in late 1899, his battalion was sent to South Africa. As part of the Kimberley Relief Force, he was present at the Battle of Magersfontein on 10–11 December 1899, in which the defending Boer force defeated the advancing British forces amongst heavy casualties for the latter. Lambton was mentioned in the despatch from Lord Methuen, who described the battle and how Lambton had refused to be carried off the battlefield despite being wounded.[4] After his recovery, he served as Military Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief of the Transvaal,[1] and was Military Secretary to Lord Milner, High-Commissioner for Southern Africa, from December 1900, with the local rank of lieutenant-colonel.[5] He was appointed Commanding Officer of 1st Bn Coldstream Guards in 1912, Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster-General for London District in 1913 and Military Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force at the beginning of the European War before becoming General Officer Commanding 4th Division in 1915.[3] He retired in 1920.[3]

Family

In 1921 he married Lady Katherine de Vere Somerset, née Beauclerk, daughter of William Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St Albans; they had no children.[1]

References

Military offices
Preceded by
Henry Wilson
General Officer Commanding the 4th Division
19151917
Succeeded by
Torquhil Matheson
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