George Henry Morris

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Hon. George Henry Morris in 1913.
Hon. George Henry Morris in 1913.

Lieutenant-Colonel George Henry Morris (16 July 1872 – 1 September 1914) was the first commanding officer to lead an Irish Guards battalion into battle.

He was born in Spiddal, Co. Galway, Ireland, the second son of Michael Morris, 1st Baron Killanin, and was educated at The Oratory School, Edgbaston. He joined The Rifle Brigade in India as Second Lieutenant in 1892, after having passed from the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. In 1897 he was appointed Adjutant of the 3rd Battalion The Rifle Brigade, a position he held for four years. He saw active service with the Tochi Valley Expeditionary Force in 1897-98, receiving the medal with clasp. In the second Boer War he served with Damant’s Horse from 1901-1902, being present in operations in the Transvaal and Orange River Colony. He was twice Mentioned in Dispatches and received the Queen's Medal with four clasps. On the conclusion of the war he rejoined the Staff College, which he had entered in 1901, and passed out in 1903. Obtaining his Majority on transfer to the Irish Guards in 1906, he was next a General Staff Officer at the Army Staff College from 1908-1911, finally becoming Lieutenant-Colonel when succeeding Charles FitzClarence to the command of the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards in July 1913.

He took the battalion to France on August 12, 1914, at the outbreak of World War I and was killed in action on September 1, during the Retreat from Mons when the 4th (Guards) Brigade formed a rear-guard for the 2nd Division in La forêt de Retz near Villers-Cotterêts.

Colonel Morris was recognised as one of the most brilliant lecturers in the British Army, and was an authority on strategy, tactics, and military history. He was a member of the Guards’ Club, the Garrick Club and the County Galway Club.

On April 29, 1913, he married Dora Maryan, second daughter of James Wesley Hall, of Melbourne, Australia at Westminster Cathedral in London. Their son Michael, born on July 30, 1914, succeeded as Lord Killanin when his uncle Martin Henry FitzPatrick Morris, 2nd Baron Killanin died in 1927 without an heir.