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 ...

Henry Finn, (6 December 1852 – 24 June 1924) was a senior 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 ...

who served as General Officer Commanding Australian Military Forces from 1904 to 1905.

Military career

Finn joined the

as a private in the

9th Queen's Royal Lancers The 9th Queen's Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries, including the First and Second World Wars. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces, but wa ...

in 1871.Harry Finn at Australian Dictionary of Biography
/ref> He served in the

Second Anglo-Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ps, د افغان-انګرېز دويمه جګړه) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the l ...

of 1878 for which he was awarded the

Distinguished Conduct Medal The Distinguished Conduct Medal was a decoration established in 1854 by Queen Victoria for gallantry in the field by other ranks of the British Army. It is the oldest British award for gallantry and was a second level military decoration, ranki ...

and mentioned in despatches. He was commissioned into the

21st Lancers The 21st Lancers (Empress of India's) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1858 and amalgamated with the 17th Lancers in 1922 to form the 17th/21st Lancers. Perhaps its most famous engagement was the Battle of Omdurman, where Wins ...

in 1881 becoming Inspector of Musketry for that Regiment in 1882 and Adjutant of the Regiment in 1884. In 1887 he was transferred to India and in 1898 he went to Sudan, fought in the

Battle of Omdurman The Battle of Omdurman was fought during the Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan between a British–Egyptian expeditionary force commanded by British Commander-in-Chief ( sirdar) major general Horatio Herbert Kitchener and a Sudanese army of the ...

and was mentioned in despatches. Finn was placed on

half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the En ...

from his regiment, and was promoted to the substantive rank of

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

on 2 March 1900. Selected for the appointment in Australia as

Commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

of the

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

Defence Force, he was granted the local rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

whilst so employed from 2 March 1900. He became

of the New South Wales military area in 1902. In 1904 he became General Officer Commanding Australian Military Forces and in 1905 he was made Inspector-General of the Australian Military Forces. He was a keen horseman and rode to and from his residence at Dawes Point Battery every day. An inkwell made from the hoof of the horse Finn used in 1898 can still be seen at Victoria Barracks in Sydney.''A Look at the History of Officers Mess Victoria Barracks 1848 – 2001'' by John Kreckler
/ref>

Family

In 1886, he married Catherine Scott and they went on to have two daughters and one son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finn, Harry 1852 births 1924 deaths Military personnel from Kent Australian generals British Army major generals Companions of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Distinguished Conduct Medal 9th Queen's Royal Lancers soldiers 21st Lancers officers British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Afghan War British Army personnel of the Mahdist War Chiefs of Army (Australia)