Edward James Montagu-Stuart-Wortley

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The Honourable Edward James Montagu-Stuart-Wortley (31 July 1857 - 19 March 1934) was a British general during the First World War who is best remembered as the first British general to be dismissed during the Battle of the Somme.

On 1 June 1914, Major General Montagu-Stuart-Wortley became GOC of the British 46th (North Midland) Division, a Territorial Force division. He was old and in ill-health, suffering from sciatica and probably not fit for operational command. In 1916 one officer described him as:

"a worn-out man, who never visited his front line and was incapable of inspiring any enthusiasm."

The division first saw action in France during the Battle of Loos when it made a costly attack against the Hohenzollern Redoubt.

As part of General Sir Edmund Allenby's Third Army, the 46th Division was involved in the diversion at Gommecourt on the first day on the Somme, 1 July 1916. The initial assault at 7.30am had failed completely and Montagu-Stuart-Wortley was called upon to renew the attack at midday, the neighbouring 56th Division having made some progress and needing support. With no artillery preparation or smoke screen, it was clear to Montagu-Stuart-Wortley that there was no prospect of success so at 3.30pm he ordered a token effort to be made by two companies. In the end only one platoon went over with only one man surviving unscathed.

The division's attack failed completely and it had the distinction of suffering the lowest casualties, 2,455 killed, wounded and missing, of all 13 British divisions involved on the day. In the opinion of the VII Corps commander, Lieutenant General Thomas D'Oyly Snow:

"the 46th Division ... showed a lack of offensive spirit. I can only attribute this to the fact that its commander, Major-General the Hon. E.J. Montagu-Stuart-Wortley, is not of an age, neither has he the constitution, to allow him to be as much among his men in the front lines as is necessary to imbue all ranks with confidence and spirit."

General Allenby ordered a Court of Inquiry but on 5 July, before it had even delivered its findings, he sacked Montagu-Stuart-Wortley. Given that Montagu-Stuart-Wortley's orders prior to the attack had been "to occupy the ground that is won by the artillery" his dismissal remains a subject of controversy.