Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Sir Archibald Buchanan Ritchie, KBE CB CMG (14 May 1869 – 9 July 1955) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer, who commanded the

11th (Northern) Division The 11th (Northern) Division, was an infantry division of the British Army during the First World War, raised from men who had volunteered for Lord Kitchener's New Armies. The division fought in the Gallipoli Campaign and on the Western Fron ...

and

16th (Irish) Division The 16th (Irish) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised for service during World War I. The division was a voluntary 'Service' formation of Lord Kitchener's New Armies, created in Ireland from the ' National Volunteers' ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Military career

Ritchie was born in 1869, the son of John Ritchie, an artillery officer who would later rise to the rank of Major-General. He was educated at the

United Services College The United Services College was an English boys' public school for the sons of military officers, located at Westward Ho! near Bideford in North Devon. Almost all boys were boarders. The school was founded to prepare pupils for a career as of ...

and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infant ...

, before joining the Seaforth Highlanders on 1889. He saw service in the Nile Campaign of 1898, and was promoted to captain on 2 May 1898. When the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

broke out in late 1899, Ritchie was temporarily appointed Adjutant of the newly established 4th (

Militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

) Battalion of the

West Yorkshire Regiment ) , march = ''Ça Ira'' , battles = Namur FontenoyFalkirk Culloden Brandywine , anniversaries = Imphal (22 June) The West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) (14th Foot) wa ...

, which was sent to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. He was twice mentioned in despatches for his service"RITCHIE, Major-Gen. Sir Archibald Buchanan", in ''Who Was Who'' (2007)
Online edition
/ref> and returned to the United Kingdom in March 1902. On the outbreak of the

, Ritchie was a Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the 1st Battalion Seaforth Highlanders, based in India. The battalion was mobilised as part of the 7th (Meerut) Division in Indian Expeditionary Force A, and sent to France, where it arrived in October 1914, and first saw action on 7 November. He remained with the battalion during the

Battle of Neuve Chapelle The Battle of Neuve Chapelle (10–13 March 1915) took place in the First World War in the Artois region of France. The attack was intended to cause a rupture in the German lines, which would then be exploited with a rush to the Aubers Ridge a ...

in March 1915, where his commander praised him as "most reliable".Willcocks, p. 219 and later in the year was promoted and given command of 26th Brigade in

9th (Scottish) Division The 9th (Scottish) Division, was an infantry division of the British Army during the First World War, one of the Kitchener's Army divisions raised from volunteers by Lord Kitchener to serve on the Western Front during the First World War. A ...

. He led the brigade at the

Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used poison gas and the first mass engagement of New Army units. Th ...

(1915) and the Battle of the Somme (1916) before being promoted to command the

in December 1916. He was wounded in May 1917, and in 1918 returned to command

. Following the end of the war, Ritchie was confirmed in the rank of Major-General, and commanded

51st (Highland) Division The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World War from 1915 to 1918. The division was raised in 1908, upon the creation of the Territorial Force, as ...

in the Territorial Army from 1923-27 before retiring. In retirement, he was the ceremonial colonel of the Seaforth Highlanders from 1931-39.

References

Sources

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ritchie, Archibald British Army major generals Seaforth Highlanders officers Companions of the Order of the Bath British Army generals of World War I Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George British Army personnel of the Second Boer War 1869 births 1955 deaths People educated at United Services College Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst British Army personnel of the Mahdist War