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 George Townshend Forestier-Walker KCB (2 August 1866 – 23 January 1939) was a senior

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 during

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 ...

Early life and education

Forestier-Walker was born in

Camberley Camberley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately south-west of Central London. The town is in the far west of the county, close to the borders of Hampshire and Berkshire. Once part of Windsor Forest, Cambe ...

, the third son of Major-General George Edmund Lushington Walker and Camilla Georgina Calder, only daughter of Major-General J. Patrick Calder. The grandson of Sir George Townshend Walker, 1st Baronet, he was from an illustrious military family. He was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

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 ...

Military career

Forestier-Walker was commissioned into the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1884 and served as Deputy Assistant Adjutant General during 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 ...

.George Forestier-Walker
/ref> He became Chief Staff Officer of the Somaliland Field Force in 1902, Assistant Quartermaster General for Intelligence for the Somaliland Field Force in 1903 and saw action again during the East Africa Campaign before becoming Assistant Quartermaster General at Southern Command in 1910. He went on to be

brigadier-general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

on the General Staff of

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 ...

in 1912. Forestier-Walker served in

initially as Chief of Staff of

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 ...

, which went to France with the British Expeditionary Force. He became General Officer Commanding 21st Division in April 1915 and fought 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 ...

in September 1915. He went on to command the

63rd (2nd Northumbrian) Division The 63rd (2nd Northumbrian) Division of the British Army was a second-line Territorial Force division, formed in 1914, which served on home defence duties during the First World War. The division was formed as a duplicate of the 50th (Northumbri ...

in the Home Forces from February 1916 and to command the

65th (2nd Lowland) Division The 65th (2nd Lowland) Division of the British Army was a second-line Territorial Force division, formed in 1914, which served on home defence duties during the First World War. The division was formed as a duplicate of the 52nd (Lowland) Divisi ...

from September 1916 also in the Home Forces. In December 1916 he became General Officer Commanding 27th Division serving as part of the

British Salonika Army The British Salonika Army was a field army of the British Army during World War I. After the armistice in November 1918, it was disbanded, but component units became the newly formed Army of the Black Sea, and General Milne remained in command. Fi ...

and eventually, after the

Armistice of Mudros Concluded on 30 October 1918 and taking effect at noon the next day, the Armistice of Mudros ( tr, Mondros Mütarekesi) ended hostilities in the Middle Eastern theatre between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies of World War I. It was signed by th ...

, at

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. He retired in 1920 and became Colonel Commandant of the Royal Artillery in 1931.

Personal life

In 1892, he married Lady Mary Maud Diana Liddell, daughter of

Henry Liddell, 2nd Earl of Ravensworth Henry George Liddell, 2nd Earl of Ravensworth (8 October 1821 – 22 July 1903), styled Lord Eslington between 1874 and 1878, was a British Conservative politician. Background Ravensworth was the son of Henry Liddell, 1st Earl of Ravensworth, and ...

. They had two sons, both of whom died young, and two daughters: * Lilian Diana Forestier Walker (12 January 1894 – 5 August 1922) * George Forestier Walker (born and died 31 May 1898) * Helen Mary Cecilia Forestier-Walker (17 April 1895 – 28 July 1987) * Cortlandt Simon Michael Forestier Walker (20 November 1902 – 29 August 1903) He died at

Child Okeford Child Okeford (sometimes written Childe Okeford) is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England, east of the small town of Sturminster Newton in the North Dorset administrative district. Child Okeford lies downstream ...

Blandford Blandford Forum ( ), commonly Blandford, is a market town in Dorset, England, sited by the River Stour about northwest of Poole. It was the administrative headquarters of North Dorset District until April 2019, when this was abolished and i ...

, aged 72.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Forestier-Walker, George 1866 births 1939 deaths People from Camberley British Army generals of World War I Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath People educated at Rugby School Military personnel from Surrey British Army major generals Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich