Brigadier-General Colin Robert Ballard, (20 July 1868 – 17 June 1941) was a Scottish officer in the

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 ...

and a military author. For his

World War I 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 ...

service in Romania, he was a recipient of several Romanian decorations.

Background and early life

Ballard was born in Cockpen, Midlothian, Scotland, the second son of General John Archibald Ballard (1829–1880), and his wife, Joanna, the daughter of Robert Scott-Moncrieff. Ballard spent his early life in Scotland and then in Kent before attending 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 ...

Westward Ho! Westward Ho! is a seaside village near Bideford in Devon, England. The A39 road provides access from the towns of Barnstaple, Bideford, and Bude. It lies at the south end of Northam Burrows and faces westward into Bideford Bay, opposite Sau ...

, Devon in 1885.

Military career

According to the records of the India Office, Ballard was granted a Queen's India Cadetship (IOR/L/MIL/9/300/40) in 1887 but he must have decided against service in the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

as he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the

Norfolk Regiment The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named ...

on 11 February 1888, with a subsequent promotion to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

on 23 April 1890. The Regiment were posted to

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

in 1891–1892 for which Ballard received the Burma Medal and Clasp, and were then posted to India in 1895 for which he received the

India Medal The India Medal was a campaign medal approved in 1896 for issue to officers and men of the British and Indian armies. The India Medal was awarded for various minor military campaigns in India, chiefly for service on the North-West Frontier duri ...

with

Relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

of Chitral clasp. Subsequent service in the

Tirah Campaign The Tirah campaign, often referred to in contemporary British accounts as the Tirah expedition, was an Indian frontier campaign from September 1897 to April 1898. Tirah is a mountainous tract of country in what was formally known as Federally ...

during 1897 and 1898 saw him mentioned in dispatches and promoted to captain on 1 May 1898.Hart′s Army list, 1903 The Norfolks were then posted 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 ...

for service in 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 ...

(1899–1902). Ballard was seconded as Station Commandant during 1899 and early 1900, with a brevet rank of major from 29 November 1899. He later became a Staff Officer in the Mounted Infantry Corps Mobile Column through to 1902. After the end of the war in June that year, he left

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

in the ''SS Bavarian'' in August, returning to

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

the following month. For his service in the war, he received the

Queen's South Africa Medal The Queen's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to British and Colonial military personnel, and to civilians employed in an official capacity, who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa. Altogether twenty-six clasps wer ...

with 6 clasps and the

King's South Africa Medal The King's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to all British and Colonial military personnel who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa, and who were in the theatre on or after 1 January 1902 and who had completed 18 m ...

with both 1901 and 1902 Clasps. Following his return, he was back as a regular officer in the 1st battalion of his regiment. It was not long, however, before he was on the move again and this time Ballard found himself as Transport Officer for the Somaliland Field Force during 1903 and 1904 before being appointed Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General in Ceylon in 1905 and then Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General in Ceylon from 1905 until 1908. Substantive promotion to Major finally occurred in 1908 and he then took up the post of a General Staff Officer Grade 2 at the

2nd London Division The 47th (1/2nd London) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force. Formation The Territorial Force (TF) was formed on 1 April 1908 following the enactment of the Territorial and Re ...

for 1909 and 1910 before moving as a General Staff Officer to the Staff College from 1911 to 1913. Promotion to Lt Colonel came in 1913, giving him the opportunity to formally wear his father's "Colonel's Sword" bequeathed to him in 1880, and he was appointed Commander, 1st Norfolk Regiment and later

7th 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion ...

95th 95 or 95th may refer to: * 95 (number) * one of the years 95 BC, AD 95, 1995, 2095, etc. * 95th Division (disambiguation) * 95th Regiment ** 95th Regiment of Foot (disambiguation) * 95th Squadron (disambiguation) * Atomic number 95: americium *M ...

and 14th Infantry Brigades, British Expeditionary Force, France and Belgium, 1914-1916. It was whilst he was General Officer Commanding 57th Infantry Brigade in 1916 that he was wounded at the Battle of the Somme. His service in France & Flanders earned him three mentions in dispatches, a brevet Colonel promotion and, in common with his father and with his older brother Admiral

George Alexander Ballard Admiral George Alexander Ballard (7 March 1862 – 16 September 1948) was an officer of the Royal Navy and a historian. Biography Ballard was the eldest son of General John Archibald Ballard (1829–1880), and his wife Joanna, the daughter of R ...

, appointment as a

Companion of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as on ...

. Ballard recovered from his wounds and was posted as Military Attaché to Romania from 1917 to 1918. For his services there, the Romanian government appointed him a Knight of the

Order of the Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the defunct Order of Michael the Brave. It is awarded by the President of Romania. It has five r ...

and he received the Collar of the Order of Carol I, the British Government appointed him a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George. For two years after the First World War, Ballard was Officer Commanding No 2 District, Scottish Command, 1919–1920 and from 1920 to 1923 he held the post of President of the Allied Police Commission in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

. He retired in 1923 and occupied his time in writing a number of books. Ballard died in 1941 and was survived by his wife.

Family

Ballard married at

Llanbadarn Fawr, Ceredigion Llanbadarn Fawr is a village and community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is on the outskirts of Aberystwyth next to Penparcau and Southgate. It forms the eastern part of the continually built-up area of Aberystwyth. It holds two electoral wards, Padar ...

, near Aberystwyth, on 7 October 1902, Lizzie Emelia A. Jones, daughter of General Jenkin Jones, Royal Engineers, of Dolau, Aberystwyth. They had no children.

Publications

* ''Russia in rule and misrule'' (John Murray, London, 1920) * ''Napoleon, an outline'' (Duckworth and Co, London, 1924), * ''Military genius of Abraham Lincoln'' (Oxford University Press, London, 1926), * ''The great Earl of Peterborough'' (Skeffington and Son, London, 1926); *
Kitchener
' (Faber and Faber, London, 1930), * ''Smith-Dorrien'' (Constable and Co, London, 1931);

References

External links