Charles James Briggs
Lieutenant General Sir Charles Briggs | |
|---|---|
_Briggs_(1865-1941).jpg) Charles James Briggs c. 1922 | |
| Born | 22 October 1865 Hylton Castle, Sunderland, England |
| Died | 27 November 1941 (aged 76) Wickhambrook, Suffolk, England[1] |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |  British Army |
| Years of service | 1886–1923 |
| Rank | Lieutenant-general |
| Commands | 1st Imperial Light Horse Mobile Column Transvaal Volunteers South Eastern Mounted Brigade 1st Cavalry Brigade 3rd Cavalry Division 28th Division in Salonika XVI Corps British Salonika Army |
| Battles/wars | Second Boer War First World War |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George |
Lieutenant General Sir Charles James Briggs, KCB, KCMG (22 October 1865 – 27 November 1941)[1] was a British Army officer who held high command in World War I.
Military career
[edit]Born the son of Colonel Charles James Briggs, JP, DL, Brigg's education took place largely abroad, including periods in France and Germany.[2] He was commissioned into the 1st King's Dragoon Guards on 30 January 1886 and served as ADC to the General Officer Commanding Egypt from 1892 to 1893.[3] Promoted to captain on 1 March 1893, he became Adjutant of the 1st Dragoon Guards in November 1894 and Brigade Adjutant of the 4th Cavalry Brigade in April 1897.[3] He served in the Second Boer War as Brigade Major of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade and was wounded at the Battle of Magersfontein (December 1899). He received a brevet rank as major on 29 November 1900, and was promoted to the substantive rank of major on 14 June 1902.[4] Following the end of the war in June 1902, he left Cape Town on the SS Sicilia and returned to Southampton in late July.[5] For his services during the war, he received a brevet promotion to lieutenant-colonel in the South African Honours list published on 26 June 1902.[6] Reported to be medically unfit for foreign service after his return from the war, he was on 1 November 1902 appointed in command of a provisional regiment of Lancers, stationed at Ballincollig.[7][8] He went on to command the 1st Imperial Light Horse and then a Mobile Column,[3] before transferring to the 6th Dragoons in July 1904.[2]
He was appointed commander of the Transvaal Volunteers in 1905 and took part in suppressing the Bambatha Rebellion in 1906.[3] He was appointed commander of the South Eastern Mounted Brigade in 1910[3] and commanded the Blue cavalry in the Army Manoeuvres of 1912. He served in World War I initially as commander of 1st Cavalry Brigade in the British Expeditionary Force, where he took part in the action at Nery.[3] He commanded 3rd Cavalry Division from May 1915, the 28th Division in Salonika from October 1915 and XVI Corps (later redesignated as the British Salonika Army) from May 1916.[3]
He was chief of the British Military Mission to South Russia from February to June 1919 before retiring in February 1923.[3] In retirement he was colonel of the 1st King's Dragoon Guards from 16 March 1926 to 31 December 1939.[9]
Decorations
[edit]These include:
- Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (military division) [K.C.B. cr. 1917]
- Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George [K.C.M.G. cr. 1918]
- Order of the White Eagle (Russia)
- Commander of the Legion of Honour (France)
- Grand Officer of the Order of the White Eagle with Swords (Serbia)[10]
- Grand Commander of the Order of the Redeemer (Greece)[11]
- Queen's South Africa Medal 1899–1902 with 5 clasps
- King's South Africa Medal 1901–1902 with 2 clasps
- Natal Rebellion Medal 1906 with clasp '1906'
- 1914–1915 Star
- British War Medal 1914–1920
- Allied Victory Medal 1914–1919 with oak leaf
- Queen Victoria Golden Jubilee Medal 1897
- War Cross with palm (Greece)[12]
- Medal of Military Merit, 1st class Greece[13]
References
[edit]- ^ a b ghgraham.orgSir Charles James Briggs 1865–1941
- ^ a b Centre for First World War Studies University of Birmingham Archived 2 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e f g h Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
- ^ "No. 27460". The London Gazette. 1 August 1902. p. 4963.
- ^ "The Army in South Africa – Troops returning home". The Times. No. 36821. London. 16 July 1902. p. 11.
- ^ "No. 27448". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 June 1902. pp. 4191–4194.
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36926. London. 15 November 1902. p. 12.
- ^ "No. 27497". The London Gazette. 21 November 1902. p. 7534.
- ^ "1st King's Dragoon Guards". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 10 January 2006. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "No. 31393". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 June 1919. p. 7401.
- ^ "No. 30945". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 October 1918. p. 11951.
- ^ "No. 31465". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 July 1919. p. 9232.
- ^ "No. 31514". The London Gazette (Supplement). 19 August 1919. p. 10611.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
- 1865 births
- 1941 deaths
- Military personnel from Tyne and Wear
- British Army cavalry generals of World War I
- British Army personnel of the Second Boer War
- Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
- Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
- Commanders of the Legion of Honour
- Recipients of the War Cross (Greece)
- Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Russia)
- Recipients of the Medal of Military Merit (Greece)
- 1st King's Dragoon Guards officers
- 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons officers
- Imperial Light Horse officers
- British Army personnel of the Russian Civil War
- British Army lieutenant generals