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George Henry Fowke

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Sir George Henry Fowke
Born(1864-09-10)10 September 1864
Halstead, Essex[1]
Died8 February 1936(1936-02-08) (aged 71)
Dinard, France
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service / branch British Army
Years of service1884–1922
RankLieutenant General
UnitRoyal Engineers
CommandsEngineer-in-Chief, BEF
Adjutant-General, BEF
Battles / wars
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George[2]
Mentioned in Despatches

Lieutenant General Sir George Henry Fowke KCB, KCMG (10 September 1864 – 8 February 1936) was a British Army officer who served on the staff of the British Expeditionary Force during World War I.

Biography

From left to right: General Sir Douglas Haig, C-in-C of the BEF, Lieutenant General Sir George Fowke, Adjutant-General of the BEF, Lieutenant General Sir Ronald Maxwell, Quartermaster-General of the BEF, and Ben Tillett, trade union leader and Founding Member of the Labour Party, at Beauquesne, France, November 1916.

Fowke joined the Royal Engineers as a lieutenant on 15 February 1884,[3] and was promoted to captain on 19 July 1892.[4] He saw active service in South Africa during the Second Boer War, where he was present at the Defence of Ladysmith, for which he was mentioned in despatches.[5] During the war he received a brevet promotion to major on 29 November 1900, and was confirmed with the substantive rank of major on 22 February 1901.[6] The war ended in June 1902 with the Peace of Vereeniging, and for his service he received a brevet promotion as lieutenant-colonel on 22 August 1902.[7]

After the war, he stayed in South Africa and was appointed as Director of Public Works in the Transvaal and was a member of the Transvaal Legislative Council from 1902 to 1904.[8] During the Russo-Japanese War, he was an observer attached to the Japanese Army in Manchuria, and then lectured on fortifications at the School of Military Engineering.[8] After being made a brevet colonel in August 1908,[9] he was appointed the Assistant Adjutant General for the Royal Engineers in 1910, and then the Inspector of the Royal Engineers in 1913.[8]

On the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, he was promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier general[10] and appointed to the post of Brigadier-General Royal Engineers in the BEF, the senior engineering advisor.[8] As the war settled into a stalemate it became apparent that the Royal Engineers would play a significant role in trench warfare, and the position was changed to Chief Engineer and then to Engineer-in-Chief in 1915. He was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in February 1915.[11] He was promoted to major general in June 1915.[12] It was in this position, that he agreed the formation of the Royal Engineer tunnelling companies, after a proposal from John Norton-Griffiths.

In February 1916, he was promoted to hold the post of Adjutant-General of the Expeditionary Force.[8] He held this post until the end of the war, and, having been made a permanent lieutenant-general in January 1919,[13] retired from the army in 1922.[8]

In addition to his British decorations and awards, he was also awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal by the United States, with the citation for the medal reading:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Lieutenant General George H. Fowke, Royal British Army, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service in a position of great responsibility to the Government of the United States, during World War I. While serving as Adjutant General, British Expeditionary Services, General Fowke rendered invaluable service to the American Expeditionary Forces and to the cause in which the United States has been engaged.[14]

References

  1. ^ IWM, Lives of the First World War
  2. ^ "No. 13186". The Edinburgh Gazette. 1 January 1918. p. 9.
  3. ^ "No. 25322". The London Gazette. 26 February 1884. p. 967.
  4. ^ Hart′s Army list, 1903
  5. ^ "Mentions in despatches – Army". Archived from the original on 20 August 2009. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
  6. ^ "No. 27501". The London Gazette. 5 December 1902. p. 8440.
  7. ^ "No. 27490". The London Gazette. 31 October 1902. p. 6900.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
  9. ^ "No. 28170". The London Gazette. 21 August 1908. p. 6148.
  10. ^ "No. 28875". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 August 1914. p. 6581.
  11. ^ "No. 29074". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 February 1915. p. 1686.
  12. ^ "No. 29202". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 June 1915. p. 6116.
  13. ^ "No. 31092". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1918. p. 13.
  14. ^ "Valor awards for George H. Fowke". Military Times.
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