Major-General Arthur Edmund Sandbach (30 July 1859 – 25 June 1928) 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 ...
general officer who served in the
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
and on the General Staff, eventually rising to command the
68th (2nd Welsh) and
59th (2nd North Midland) Divisions 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 ...
.
Early career
Arthur Edmund Sandbach was born on 30 July 1859, the third son of Henry Robertson Sandbach of
Hafodunos Hall in
Denbighshire
Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...
,
a wealthy Anglo-Welsh landowner.
Sandbach was educated at
Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...
and the
Royal Military Academy, Woolwich
The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Sig ...
,
following which he was commissioned in the
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
as a Lieutenant on 6 April 1879.
He served in the
Anglo-Egyptian War
The British conquest of Egypt (1882), also known as Anglo-Egyptian War (), occurred in 1882 between Egyptian and Sudanese forces under Ahmed ‘Urabi and the United Kingdom. It ended a nationalist uprising against the Khedive Tewfik Pasha. It ...
of 1882, seeing action at the
Battle of Tel-el-Kebir
The Battle of Tel El Kebir (often spelled Tel-El-Kebir) was fought on 13 September 1882 at Tell El Kebir in Egypt, 110 km north-north-east of Cairo. An entrenched Egyptian force under the command of Ahmed ʻUrabi was defeated by a British a ...
, the 1885
Sudan Campaign
The Mahdist War ( ar, الثورة المهدية, ath-Thawra al-Mahdiyya; 1881–1899) was a war between the Mahdist Sudanese of the religious leader Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided On ...
, the 1886–87
Burmese Expedition, and the
Sikkim Expedition of 1888.
He was promoted to Captain on 1 April 1889,
and in 1891 served as the aide-de-camp to Major-General
Elles
Elles is a surname, and may refer to:
*Bertram Walter Elles (1877–1963), British colonial civil servant
*Diana Elles, Baroness Elles (1921–2009), British lawyer and peer
*Sir Edmond Elles (1848–1934), British Army lieutenant general
*Gertru ...
, commanding the
Hazara Expedition of 1891
The Hazara Expedition of 1888, also known as the Black Mountain Expedition or the First Hazara Expedition, was a military campaign by the British against the tribes of Kala Dhaka (then known as the Black Mountains of Hazara) in the Hazara region ...
.
He was promoted to Major in November 1897,
and during the
Nile Expedition
The Nile Expedition, sometimes called the Gordon Relief Expedition (1884–85), was a British mission to relieve Major-General Charles George Gordon at Khartoum, Sudan. Gordon had been sent to the Sudan to help Egyptians evacuate from Sudan af ...
of 1898 he held the post of assistant adjutant-general in the Egyptian army, where he was
mentioned in despatches
To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...
and appointed a brevet Lieutenant-Colonel.
On returning from Egypt at the start of 1899, Sandbach was appointed as the Military Secretary to the Viceroy of India, a post he held until November, when the outbreak of 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 Sout ...
meant that he was sent to South Africa.
He worked on the staff in South Africa as an assistant adjutant-general, for which he was awarded the
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...
as well as a second mention in despatches.
Returning from South Africa in 1902, he married the Hon. Ida Douglas-Pennant, a daughter of
George Douglas-Pennant, 2nd Baron Penrhyn
George Sholto Gordon Douglas-Pennant, 2nd Baron Penrhyn (30 September 1836 – 10 March 1907), was a landowner who played a prominent part in the Welsh slate industry as the owner of the Penrhyn Quarry in North Wales.
Life
He was born at Linton ...
, with whom he would have one daughter.
In 1904, he returned again to India where he was appointed to command the
1st Sappers and Miners, the senior Indian engineer regiment.
Accordingly, he was promoted to the brevet rank of Colonel in February 1904, and the substantive rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in April 1905.
In 1907 he relinquished command of the 1st Sappers, and returned to England, where he was appointed Officer Commanding Royal Engineers at Aldershot and took the (partly honorary) position as chair of a
Territorial Force
The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...
county association. In 1910, he transferred to
Irish Command
Commander-in-Chief, Ireland, was title of the commander of the British forces in Ireland before 1922. Until the Act of Union in 1800, the position involved command of the distinct Irish Army of the Kingdom of Ireland.
History Marshal of Ireland ...
as the Chief Engineer.
In this post, he was given a substantive promotion to Colonel and a temporary rank of Brigadier-General.
First World War
Sandbach was still holding his post at
Irish Command
Commander-in-Chief, Ireland, was title of the commander of the British forces in Ireland before 1922. Until the Act of Union in 1800, the position involved command of the distinct Irish Army of the Kingdom of Ireland.
History Marshal of Ireland ...
on the outbreak of 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 ...
in August 1914. While he officially remained Chief Engineer in Ireland until 5 October,
he was in fact appointed to accompany the
British Expeditionary Force to France, as the Commander Royal Engineers in
II Corps 2nd Corps, Second Corps, or II Corps may refer to:
France
* 2nd Army Corps (France)
* II Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars
* II Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French ...
. He was promoted to Major-General in October 1914, and with the expansion of the Expeditionary Force in early 1915, he was appointed as Chief Engineer of
Second Army, but was recalled in April 1915 to act as the temporary Inspector of Royal Engineers.
In November 1915, Sandbach was appointed to command the
68th (2nd Welsh) Division
The 2nd Welsh Division was a 2nd Line Territorial Force division of the British Army in the First World War. The division was formed as a duplicate of the 53rd (Welsh) Division in January 1915. As the name suggests, the division recruited in Wal ...
, a second-line Territorial unit on home defence duties in England. He handed over command in February 1916 on his transfer to the
59th (2nd North Midland) Division
The 59th (2nd North Midland) Division was an infantry Division (military), division of the British Army during World War I. It was formed in late 1914/early 1915 as a 2nd Line Territorial Force formation raised as a duplicate of the 46th (North ...
, another reserve unit.
The 59th was the "mobile division" in the Home Army, held in readiness to combat a landing along the East Coast; when the
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...
broke out in Dublin on 24 April 1916, it was ordered into immediate readiness and despatched to Ireland. Here, units of the division – many with only a few weeks' training – were hastily thrown into combat, some taking heavy casualties; the 2/7th and 2/8th Sherwood Foresters lost over two hundred men killed or wounded at Mount Street on 26 April and at the South Dublin Union on 27 April. After the end of fighting in Dublin, the 59th moved to the
Curragh
The Curragh ( ; ga, An Currach ) is a flat open plain of almost of common land in County Kildare. This area is well known for Irish horse breeding and training. The Irish National Stud is located on the edge of Kildare town, beside the ...
for further training, and was returned to England at the end of the year.
In February 1917, the 59th Division was ordered to the
Western Front, despite concerns that its training schedule had been disrupted by service in Ireland. It was deployed during the
Advance to the Hindenburg Line in March–April 1917, where it took unexpectedly high losses.
Sandbach was relieved of command on 10 April,
felt by his superiors to be too old for command of a front-line division.
[Robbins, Simon (2005). ''British Generalship on the Western Front 1914–18: Defeat into Victory''. Routledge. ] He was not given a further service appointment.
Following the War, Sandbach was appointed as a
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...
in
Montgomeryshire
Montgomeryshire, also known as ''Maldwyn'' ( cy, Sir Drefaldwyn meaning "the Shire of Baldwin's town"), is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It is named after its county tow ...
, where he lived, and in 1919 served as the county's
High Sheriff. He died on 25 June 1928 at 57 Manchester Street, Marylebone.
References
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandbach, Arthur
1859 births
1928 deaths
British Army major generals
Military personnel from Denbighshire
Welsh justices of the peace
People educated at Eton College
Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich
British Army generals of World War I
Royal Engineers officers
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Companions of the Order of the Bath
People from Montgomeryshire
British Army personnel of the Anglo-Egyptian War
British Army personnel of the Mahdist War
British military personnel of the Sikkim expedition