Ernest Dunlop Swinton

Ernest Dunlop Swinton
Ernest Dunlop Swinton
Born	(1868-10-21)21 October 1868 Bangalore, India
Died	15 January 1951(1951-01-15) (aged 82) Oxford, Oxfordshire
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Engineers
Years of service	1888–1919
Rank	Major General
Battles/wars	Second Boer War First World War
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companion of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order
Other work	Air Ministry, Citroën, Chichele Professor of Military History at Oxford University, Colonel Commandant of the Royal Tank Corps

Major-General Sir Ernest Dunlop Swinton, KBE, CB, DSO (21 October 1868 – 15 January 1951) was a British Army officer who was active in the development and adoption of the tank during the First World War. He was also a war correspondent and author of several allegorical works of fiction on military themes, including a lastingly influential book on tactics and good practice. He is credited with having coined the word "tank" as a code-name for the first tracked, armoured fighting vehicles.

Swinton was born in Bangalore, India, in 1868. His father worked for the Madras Civil Service. Swinton was educated at University College School, Rugby School, Cheltenham College, Blackheath Proprietary School, and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He became an officer in the Corps of Royal Engineers in 1888, serving in India and becoming Lieutenant in 1891.

He served as a Captain during the Second Boer War (1899–1901), and received the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in November 1900. Although principally concerned with railway construction, he took a keen interest in tactics, fortifications, and the effectiveness of modern weaponry, especially the recently introduced machine-gun. After the war, he wrote his book on small unit tactics, The Defence of Duffer's Drift, a military classic on minor tactics that has been used by the Canadian and British Armies to train their NCOs and officers and US military to train its officers. In the years leading up to the First World War, he served as a staff officer and as an official historian of the Russo-Japanese War.