Aylmer Haldane
Sir Aylmer Haldane | |
---|---|
c. 1900 | |
Born |
17 November 1862 Gleneagles, Scotland |
Died |
19 April 1950 London, United Kingdom |
Buried at | Brookwood Cemetery |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/branch | British Army |
Years of service | 1882–1925 |
Rank | General |
Commands held |
10th Infantry Brigade 3rd Division 6th Army Corps |
Battles/wars |
Second Boer War World War I |
Awards |
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order |
General Sir James Aylmer Lowthorpe Haldane, GCMG, KCB, DSO (17 November 1862 – 19 April 1950)[1] was a senior British Army officer with a long and distinguished career.
Early life
Born to physician Daniel Rutherford Haldane and his wife Charlotte Elizabeth née Lowthorpe, James Aylmer Lowthorpe Haldane came from a family of distinguished Scottish aristocrats based in Gleneagles.
Military career
In September 1882, after attending the Edinburgh Academy and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, [2] Haldane was commissioned as a British officer of the Gordon Highlanders.[3] On 18 February 1886, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and on 8 April 1892 to the rank of captain.[4]
Between 1894 and 1895, Haldane was part of the Waziristan Field Force and participated in the Chitral Expedition.[3] He was dispatched to quell the Afridis rebellion in the Tirah campaign for the next two years (1897–1898),[3] was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) on 20 May 1898,[5] and became aide-de-camp to the Commander-in-Chief East Indies later the same year. Haldane fought in the Second Boer War in South Africa,[3] where he was taken a war prisoner. While imprisoned in Pretoria, he planned the escape which made Winston Churchill famous. Haldane failed to escape at the same time and later complained of Churchill's lack of regard for those who should have escaped with him. However, Haldane later managed his own escape.[6]
Haldane was appointed a staff captain in the Intelligence Section at the War Office on 27 June 1901,[7] promoted to major on 23 July 1902,[7] and received the brevet rank of lieutenant colonel on the following day.[8][9] He was military attaché with the Imperial Japanese Army from July 1904 to September 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War, and accompanied Japanese forces into Manchuria. [2]
Promoted to brevet colonel, Haldane was appointed a CB on 16 March 1906,[10] receiving confirmation as a substantive colonel in November.[11] From 1906 to 1909, he served as assistant director of military intelligence.[2] On 1 October 1909, Haldane was promoted to temporary brigadier-general[12] and in 1910 become commander of 10th Infantry Brigade.[3]
Haldane fought in World War I initially as General Officer Commanding 3rd Division, then part of the British Expeditionary Force.[3] He was given command of 6th Army Corps in France in 1916.[3]
After the end of the war, Haldane was appointed General Officer Commanding Mesopotamia 1920 remaining in that post until 1922; he retired in 1925.[3]
Later life and death
Haldane died on 19 April 1950, at his home in London and was buried at Brookwood Cemetery.[1]
Honours and decorations
- Order of the Sacred Treasure, Japan, 1905.
Selected works
Haldane's published writings encompass 6 works in 8 publications in 1 language and 311 library holdings.[13]
- Haldane, James A. L. (1900) How we escaped from Pretoria. Edinburgh : William Blackwood & Sons.
- Haldane, James A. L. (1920) A brigade of the old army, 1914, relating to operations of 10 Infantry Bde, France, Aug–Nov 1914. London : Edward Arnold.
- Haldane, Lieutenant General Sir Aylmer (1922) The Insurrection in Mesopotamia. London: William Blackwood & Sons.
- Haldane, James A. L. (1929) The Haldanes of Gleneagles. Edinburgh : William Blackwood & Sons.
- Haldane, James A. L. (1948) A soldier's saga: the autobiography of General Sir Aylmer Haldane. Edinburgh : William Blackwood & Sons.
Papers
- LIDDELL HART CENTRE FOR MILITARY ARCHIVES
- The papers of Lt Gen Sir Lawrence Worthington Parsons include letter from Haldane relating to 16 Irish Div 1916; the papers of Brig Sir James Edward Edmonds include 12 letters from Haldane 1905–1935 (ref: Edmonds)
- BRITISH LIBRARY, ORIENTAL AND INDIA OFFICE COLLECTIONS, LONDON
- Copy of Haldane's official report, Battle of the Sha-Ho, Second Japanese Army, operations from the 5 September to the 19 October 1904 (ref: 9057.de.2)
- CHURCHILL ARCHIVES CENTRE, CHURCHILL COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
- The papers of Maj Gen Sir Edward Louis Spears include correspondence 1934–1938 (ref: SPRS 1/156)
- IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM, LONDON
- Diary as 10 Bde Commander, Shorncliffe 1912–1914; The papers of FM Sir Henry Hughes Wilson include correspondence with Haldane 1920–1921 (ref: HHW)
- NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND, EDINBURGH
- Collection of papers 1890–1950 (ref: MSS 20247-59); including letters and diaries; papers relating to his World War I service; papers relating to Mesopotamia 1920–1922
See also
Notes
- 1 2 Andy Simpson, ‘Haldane, Sir (James) Aylmer Lowthorpe (1862–1950)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online edn, Oxford University Press, Oct 2008; online edn, May 2009 accessed 3 May 2010
- 1 2 3 Kowner, Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War, p. 139-140.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives". Kcl.ac.uk. 19 October 1904.
- ↑ Hart´s Army list, 1903
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 26968. p. 3166. 20 May 1898. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ↑ Haldane, Aylmer (1901). How We Escaped from Pretoria. Wm Blackwood and Sons.
- 1 2 The London Gazette: no. 27456. p. 4673. 22 July 1902.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27456. p. 4674. 22 July 1902.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27472. p. 5814. 9 September 1902. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27895. p. 1881. 16 March 1906. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27964. p. 7480. 6 November 1906. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 28295. p. 7430. 8 October 1909. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ↑ WorldCat Identities Archived 30 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine.: Haldane, James Aylmer Lowthorpe Sir 1862–1950
References
- Haldane, Aylmer. (1948). A Soldier's Saga: the Autobiography of General Sir Alymer Haldane. Edinburgh: W. Blackwood. OCLC 223159515
- Haldane, Aylmer. The Insurrection in Mesopotamia 1920. London: William Blackwood & Sons, 1922.
- Kowner, Rotem (2006). Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War. ISBN 0-8108-4927-5: The Scarecrow Press.
External links
Military offices | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Colin Mackenzie |
General Officer Commanding the 3rd Division 1914–1916 |
Succeeded by Cyril Deverell |
Preceded by John Keir |
General Officer Commanding the VI Corps 1916–1919 |
Succeeded by Post Disbanded |