Beauvoir De Lisle

General Sir Henry de Beauvoir De Lisle KCB KCMG DSO (27 July 1864 - 16 July 1955) was a British Army General who served in World War I.

Military career

Born in Guernsey and educated in Jersey,^[1] Beauvoir De Lisle was commissioned into 2nd Bn Durham Light Infantry in 1883.^[2] He saw service with the Mounted Infantry in Egypt between 1885 and 1886^[2] winning his DSO there.

He studied at the Staff College in 1899 before returning to the Mounted Infantry with whom he saw service during the Second Boer War between 1899 and 1901.^[2] He was appointed Second in Command of the Royal Dragoons in 1903 and then became Commanding Officer of 1st Bn Royal Dragoons in 1906.^[2] He became a General Staff Officer at Aldershot in 1910 and in 1911 was appointed Commander of 2nd Cavalry Brigade.^[2]

He served in World War I initially as Commander of 2nd Cavalry Brigade on the Western Front and then as General Officer Commanding 1st Cavalry Division also on the Western Front in 1914.^[2]

He then became General Officer Commanding 29th Division leading the Division at the Third Battle of Krithia during the Gallipoli Campaign of April 1915 to January 1916.^[2] He returned to the Western Front in 1916 and fought at the Battle of the Somme before moving on to become General Officer Commanding XIII Corps in Mar 1918 and GOC XV Corps in Apr 1918.^[2]

After the War he was appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Command: he held this post until 1923 and then he retired in 1926.^[2]

Retirement

He was known for his polo skills and spent much of the years 1929 to 1930 training polo teams for the Maharaja of Kashmir in India.^[1]

Bibliography

• Reminiscences of sport and war by Beauvoir De Lisle, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1939
• Tournament Polo by Beauvoir De Lisle, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1938
• Polo in India by Beauvoir De Lisle, Thacker, 1907

References