The Lord Milne | |
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Field Marshal Lord Milne
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Born |
Aberdeen, Scotland |
5 November 1866
Died | 23 March 1948 London, England |
(aged 81)
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/branch | British Army |
Years of service | 1885–1933 |
Rank | Field Marshal |
Unit | Royal Artillery |
Commands held |
Chief of the Imperial General Staff Eastern Command Salonika Army VI Corps 27th Division |
Battles/wars |
Mahdist War Second Boer War First World War |
Awards |
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Distinguished Service Order Mentioned in Despatches Grand Cross of the Order of the White Eagle (Serbia) Grand Officer of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (Italy) Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer (Greece) War Cross (Greece) Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour (France) |
Other work | Constable of the Tower of London (1933–38) |
Field Marshal George Francis Milne, 1st Baron Milne GCB, GCMG, DSO (5 November 1866 – 23 March 1948) was a senior British Army officer who served as Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS) from 1926 to 1933. He served in the Second Boer War and during the First World War he served briefly on the Western Front but spent most of the war commanding the British forces on the Macedonian front. As CIGS he generally promoted the mechanization of British land forces although limited practical progress was made during his term in office.
Born the son of George Milne and Williamina Milne (née Panton) and educated at MacMillan's School in Aberdeen and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Milne was commissioned into the Royal Artillery on 16 September 1885. He was initially posted to a battery at Trimulgherry in India and then joined a battery at Aldershot in 1889 before being posted back to India to a battery at Meerut in 1891. Promoted to captain on 4 July 1895, he joined the garrison artillery in Malta and then took part in the Suakin Expedition in 1896. Next he was appointed battery captain at Hilsea and then attended the Staff College, Camberley in 1897. There he became a friend of his classmate William Robertson. He took part in the Nile Expedition in 1898, seeing action at Omdurman and scoring a direct hit on the Mahdi's tomb with his battery. He served in the Second Boer War earning promotion to major on 1 November 1899, and having been appointed Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General on 18 February 1900, saw further promotion to lieutenant colonel on 1 November 1900. He was mentioned in despatches on 2 April 1901, and awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in the South Africa Honours list published on 26 June 1902.