George Thesiger

George Handcock Thesiger
George Handcock Thesiger
Born	6 October 1868
Died	27 September 1915 (aged 42) Hohenzollern Redoubt, Loos, France
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1890 to 1915
Rank	Major-General
Unit	Rifle Brigade, King's African Rifles, General Staff
Commands held	9th (Scottish) Infantry Division
Battles/wars	Nile Expedition, Second Boer War, First World War
Awards	Companion of the Bath, Companion of St Michael and St George

Major-General George Handcock Thesiger, CB, CMG (6 October 1868 – 27 September 1915) was a senior officer in the British Army during the First World War who was killed in action during the Battle of Loos by German shellfire. His career had encompassed military service in Egypt, South Africa, Ireland, British India and France and had been rewarded with membership in two chivalric orders.

Thesiger was born in October 1868 into the Thesiger family, the son of Lieutenant General Charles Wemyss Thesiger and Charlotte Elizabeth Handcock. He was the middle of three children, with one older sister, Ethel Mary, and one younger brother, Gerald. He was the grandson of the politician Frederic Thesiger, 1st Baron Chelmsford and nephew of Major-General Frederic Thesiger and the judge Alfred Henry Thesiger.

Thesiger was educated at Eton College before attending the Royal Military College, Sandhurst for training as an infantry officer. In 1890, Thesiger was Gazetted into the Rifle Brigade as a junior officer aged 22 and served with his unit in England until 1898, when the regiment was dispatched to Egypt. There the Rifle Brigade served on the Nile expedition under Horatio Kitchener during the Mahdist War and was present at the Battle of Omdurman which decided the campaign.