James Willcocks

Sir James Willcocks
Sir James Willcocks
Born	1 April 1857
Died	18 December 1926(1926-12-18) (aged 69)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1878–1922
Rank	General
Commands held	Northern Army, India Indian Corps
Battles/wars	Ashanti War Second Afghan 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 Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India Distinguished Service Order

General Sir James Willcocks, GCB, GCMG, KCSI, DSO (1 April 1857 – 18 December 1926) was a British Army officer who spent most of his career in India and Africa and held high command during the First World War.

Willcocks was born in Baraut, Meerut District, United Provinces, India, the son of an officer in the East India Company's army. He was educated in England and passed out from the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, in January 1878 (having only got in on the third attempt), being commissioned into the 100th Foot in the Punjab.

In late 1879, shortly after being promoted Lieutenant, he persuaded his superiors to send him to the Second Afghan War (although his regiment was not engaged there), where he served as a transport officer. In 1881 he again served as a transport officer in the Mahsud Waziri expedition, rejoining his regiment the following year. In 1884 he was seconded to the newly formed Army Transport Department and posted to Assam. He was promoted Captain in what was by now the Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment in August 1884. He served in the Sudan in 1885–1886 and then returned to Assam before serving in Burma in 1886, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). In December 1887 he was offered a permanent transfer to the Commissariat and Transport Department, but declined in favour of the adjutantcy of the 1st Battalion of his regiment.