Francis Davies (British Army officer)
Sir Francis Davies | |
---|---|
Lt-Gen Sir Francis Davies: 1916 | |
Born | 1864 |
Died | 1948 (aged 83–84) |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/branch | British Army |
Rank | General |
Commands held |
1 (Guards) Brigade 8th Division Scottish Command |
Battles/wars | First World War |
Awards |
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order |
General Sir Francis John Davies KCB KCMG KCVO (1864–1948) was a British Army General during World War I.
Military career
Davies was commissioned into the Worcestershire Militia in 1881.[1] He transferred to the Grenadier Guards in 1884 becoming Adjutant to the 2 Bn Grenadier Guards in 1893.[1] In 1897 he was posted to South Africa where he became Deputy Assistant Adjutant General for the Cape of Good Hope in 1897.[1] He served in the Second Boer War as Deputy Assistant Adjutant General responsible for Intelligence at Army Headquarters in South Africa.[1] He was appointed acting Commissioner of Police for Johannesburg in 1900.[1]
He returned to the United Kingdom in 1902 and became Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General at the War Office in 1902 and Assistant Director of Military Operations in 1904.[1] He was the British delegate to the International Conference on Wireless Telegraphy in Berlin in 1906 and then Assistant Quartermaster General for Western Command in 1907.[1]
He was made General Officer Commanding 1 (Guards) Brigade in 1909 and then Director of Staff Duties at the War Office in 1913.[1]
He served in World War I becoming General Officer Commanding 8th Division on the Western Front in 1914[2] (in which capacity he led the division at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle and the Battle of Aubers Ridge)[3] and Military Secretary in 1916.[1] After the War he was appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief for Scottish Command in 1919; he retired in 1923.[1]
He lived at Elmley Castle in Worcestershire.[4]
References
Military offices | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by New Post |
General Officer Commanding the 8th Division 1914–1915 |
Succeeded by Havelock Hudson |
Preceded by Sir Frederick Robb |
Military Secretary 1916–1919 |
Succeeded by Sir Philip Chetwode |
Preceded by Sir Frederick McCracken |
GOC-in-C Scottish Command 1919–1923 |
Succeeded by Sir Walter Braithwaite |