James Willcocks
Encyclopedia
General
Sir James Willcocks GCB GCMG KCSI DSO
(1 April 1857–18 December 1926) was a British Army
officer who held high command during World War I
.
Willcocks was born in Baraut
, Meerut District
, United Provinces
, India
, the son of an officer in the East India Company's army. He was educated in England and passed out from the Royal Military College, Sandhurst in January 1878 (having only got in on the third attempt), being commissioned into the 100th Foot
in the Punjab
.
In late 1879, shortly after being promoted Lieutenant, he persuaded his superiors to send him to the Second Afghan War (although his regiment was not engaged there), where he served as a transport officer. In 1881 he again served as a transport officer in the Mahsud Waziri expedition, rejoining his regiment the following year. In 1884 he was seconded to the newly formed Army Transport Department and posted to Assam
. He was promoted Captain
in August 1884. He served in the Sudan
in 1885–1886 and then returned to Assam before serving in Burma in 1886, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order
(DSO). In December 1887 he was offered a permanent transfer to the Commissariat and Transport Department, but declined in favour of the adjutant
cy of the 1st Battalion of his regiment (now the Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment
).
In 1889 he served as a intelligence officer
in the Chin-Lushai expedition and in 1891 in the Manipur
expedition. In June 1897 he was appointed assistant adjutant-general of the Baluchistan
field force and in November 1897 second-in-command
of the new West African Frontier Force as a Temporary Lieutenant-Colonel. He was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1899 New Year Honours. In November 1899 he was promoted substantive Lieutenant-Colonel (having received his Brevet
in May) and became Colonel-Commandant of the Frontier Force, being granted the local rank of Colonel
in January 1900. For his relief of Kumasi
during the Ashanti War of 1900 he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) and promoted to Brevet Colonel.
After briefly serving in the South African War in 1902, he returned to India. He was promoted substantive Colonel in March 1902, although at this time he was serving as a Brigadier-General. He was promoted Major-General and given a brigade
in 1906, commanded the Bazar Valley Field Force in February and March 1908, was given command a division
in March 1908 and promoted Lieutenant-General for distinguished service in the field following his command of the Mohmand
Field Force in July 1908. He was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 1907 Birthday Honours. In 1910 he was appointed to the command of the Northern Army. In the 1913 New Year Honours he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India (KCSI). He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 1914.
In 1914 he was given command of the Indian Corps in France. He was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) in the 1915 Birthday Honours and was promoted General in May 1915, but resigned in September 1915 after friction with Sir Douglas Haig
, who commanded the First Army
.
In May 1917 Willcocks was appointed Governor of Bermuda
, a post in which he served until 1922. He was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) in the 1921 Birthday Honours. He later returned to India and died at Bharatpur
in 1926.
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Sir James Willcocks GCB GCMG KCSI DSO
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
(1 April 1857–18 December 1926) was a British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
officer who held high command during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Willcocks was born in Baraut
Baraut
Baraut is a city and a small municipal board in Baghpat district, Uttar Pradesh, India. Previously it was under Meerut district which was bifurcated into Meerut and Baghpat districts. At present it is a education hub for the villages around Baraut....
, Meerut District
Meerut District
Meerut district , is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh state of India, and Meerut is the district headquarters. Meerut district is a part of Meerut division.-Demographics:...
, United Provinces
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh
The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was a province of India under the British Raj, which existed from 1902 to 1947; the official name was shortened by the Government of India Act 1935 to United Provinces, by which the province had been commonly known, and by which name it was also a province of...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, the son of an officer in the East India Company's army. He was educated in England and passed out from the Royal Military College, Sandhurst in January 1878 (having only got in on the third attempt), being commissioned into the 100th Foot
100th (Prince of Wales's Royal Canadian) Regiment of Foot
The 100th Foot was raised in Canada as the 100th Royal Canadians to serve as a regular regiment of the British army. Recruiting is recorded to have begun mid March, 1858 and took 3 months. The initial enlistment was for 10 years, but not to exceed 12 years...
in the Punjab
Punjab (British India)
Punjab was a province of British India, it was one of the last areas of the Indian subcontinent to fall under British rule. With the end of British rule in 1947 the province was split between West Punjab, which went to Pakistan, and East Punjab, which went to India...
.
In late 1879, shortly after being promoted Lieutenant, he persuaded his superiors to send him to the Second Afghan War (although his regiment was not engaged there), where he served as a transport officer. In 1881 he again served as a transport officer in the Mahsud Waziri expedition, rejoining his regiment the following year. In 1884 he was seconded to the newly formed Army Transport Department and posted to Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
. He was promoted Captain
Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)
Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...
in August 1884. He served in the Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
in 1885–1886 and then returned to Assam before serving in Burma in 1886, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
(DSO). In December 1887 he was offered a permanent transfer to the Commissariat and Transport Department, but declined in favour of the adjutant
Adjutant
Adjutant is a military rank or appointment. In some armies, including most English-speaking ones, it is an officer who assists a more senior officer, while in other armies, especially Francophone ones, it is an NCO , normally corresponding roughly to a Staff Sergeant or Warrant Officer.An Adjutant...
cy of the 1st Battalion of his regiment (now the Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment
Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment
The Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army, formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 100th Regiment of Foot and the 109th Regiment of Foot...
).
In 1889 he served as a intelligence officer
Intelligence officer
An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organization to collect, compile and/or analyze information which is of use to that organization...
in the Chin-Lushai expedition and in 1891 in the Manipur
Manipur
Manipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Burma to the east. It covers an area of...
expedition. In June 1897 he was appointed assistant adjutant-general of the Baluchistan
Baluchistan Agency
The Baluchistan Agency was one of the agencies of British India. Agency Territories, with an area of 44,345 square miles , composed of tracts which had, from time to time, been acquired by lease or otherwise brought under control and been placed directly under British officers.This agency consisted...
field force and in November 1897 second-in-command
Second-in-command
The Second-in-Command is the deputy commander of any British Army or Royal Marines unit, from battalion or regiment downwards. He or she is thus the equivalent of an Executive Officer in the United States Army...
of the new West African Frontier Force as a Temporary Lieutenant-Colonel. He was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1899 New Year Honours. In November 1899 he was promoted substantive Lieutenant-Colonel (having received his Brevet
Brevet (military)
In many of the world's military establishments, brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily, but usually without receiving the pay of that higher rank except when actually serving in that role. An officer so promoted may be referred to as being...
in May) and became Colonel-Commandant of the Frontier Force, being granted the local rank of Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
in January 1900. For his relief of Kumasi
Kumasi
Kumasi is a city in southern central Ghana's Ashanti region. It is located near Lake Bosomtwe, in the Rain Forest Region about northwest of Accra. Kumasi is approximately north of the Equator and north of the Gulf of Guinea...
during the Ashanti War of 1900 he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) and promoted to Brevet Colonel.
After briefly serving in the South African War in 1902, he returned to India. He was promoted substantive Colonel in March 1902, although at this time he was serving as a Brigadier-General. He was promoted Major-General and given a brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...
in 1906, commanded the Bazar Valley Field Force in February and March 1908, was given command a division
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
in March 1908 and promoted Lieutenant-General for distinguished service in the field following his command of the Mohmand
Mohmand
The Mohmand are a clan of Sarban Pashtuns, living primarily in the FATA & Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan & northeastern Afghanistan.- Demographics :...
Field Force in July 1908. He was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 1907 Birthday Honours. In 1910 he was appointed to the command of the Northern Army. In the 1913 New Year Honours he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India (KCSI). He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 1914.
In 1914 he was given command of the Indian Corps in France. He was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) in the 1915 Birthday Honours and was promoted General in May 1915, but resigned in September 1915 after friction with Sir Douglas Haig
Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig
Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, KT, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCIE, ADC, was a British senior officer during World War I. He commanded the British Expeditionary Force from 1915 to the end of the War...
, who commanded the First Army
British First Army
The First Army was a field army of the British Army that existed during the First and Second World Wars. Despite being a British command, the First Army also included Indian and Portuguese forces during the First World War and American and French during the Second World War.-First World War:The...
.
In May 1917 Willcocks was appointed Governor of Bermuda
Governor of Bermuda
The Governor of Bermuda is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Bermuda. The Governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government...
, a post in which he served until 1922. He was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) in the 1921 Birthday Honours. He later returned to India and died at Bharatpur
Bharatpur, India
Bharatpur is a city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It was founded by Maharaja Suraj Mal in 1733. Located in the Brij region, Bharatpur was once an impregnable, well-planned and well-fortified city, and the capital of Jat kingdom ruled by Sinsinwar Maharajas.The trio of Bharatpur, Deeg and...
in 1926.