General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Sir Havelock Hudson, (22 June 1862 – 25 December 1944) was a

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

officer who was General Officer Commanding

8th Division 8th Division, 8th Infantry Division or 8th Armored Division may refer to: Infantry divisions * 8th Division (Australia) * 8th Canadian Infantry Division * 8th Air Division (People's Republic of China) * 8th Division (1st Formation) (People's Rep ...

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 ...

Military career

The Battle of the Somme, July-november 1916 Q957

Hudson was commissioned into the

Northamptonshire Regiment The Northamptonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1960. In 1960, it was amalgamated with the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment to form the 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's Ow ...

as a

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 sub ...

on 22 October 1881. He transferred to the

Indian Staff Corps The Indian Staff Corps was a branch of the British Indian Army, Indian Army during the British Raj. Separate Staff Corps were formed in 1861 for the Bengal Army, Bengal, Madras Army, Madras and Bombay Army, Bombay Armies, which were later combined ...

in 1885Quarterly Army List March 1922 and became an officer of the

19th Lancers The 19th Lancers is an armoured regiment of the Pakistan Army. Before 1956, it was known as 19th King George V's Own Lancers, which was a regular cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was formed in 1922, by the amalgamation of 18th K ...

from that year.History of the 19th King George's Own Lancers 1858-1921 Promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 22 October 1892, he served on the staff during the North West Frontier campaign in 1897. He briefly acted as deputy assistant quartermaster-general at Indian army headquarters June–August 1900, then was appointed a staff officer in the China Field Force for the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...

later that year. In 1901 he took part in the second Miranzai expedition in 1901.Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> He commanded the 19th Lancers from 4 February to 27 August 1910. He was appointed a General Staff Officer Grade 1 with the Directorate of Staff Duties and Military Training on 1 July 1910. He was appointed Commandant of the Cavalry School at Sangor in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

1 July until 30 September 1912 and became Brigadier-General on the General Staff of the Northern Army on 1 October 1912. He served in

as Brigadier-General on the General Staff of the

Indian Corps The I Indian Corps was an army corps of the British Indian Army in the World War I. It was formed at the outbreak of war under the title Indian Corps from troops sent to the Western Front. The British Indian Army did not have a pre-war corps str ...

from 1914,University of Birmingham
/ref> then was appointed General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the

on the Western Front from 31 July 1915 (in which capacity he led the attack on

Ovillers Ovillers-la-Boisselle is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography The commune of Ovillers-la-Boisselle is situated northeast of Amiens and extends to the north and south of the D 929 Albert–Bapaume ...

losing 5,400 men) until 8 December 1916 and was appointed Adjutant General, India from 5 Feb 1917 until 30 October 1920. Following the

Amritsar massacre The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. A large peaceful crowd had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab, British India, Punjab, to protest against the Rowlatt Act and arre ...

in 1919 it fell to Hudson, in his capacity as Adjutant-General, to tell Brigadier

Reginald Dyer Colonel Reginald Edward Harry Dyer, CB (9 October 1864 – 23 July 1927) was an officer of the Bengal Army and later the newly constituted British Indian Army. His military career began serving briefly in the regular British Army before tra ...

that he was relieved of his command.''Mariners, Merchants and the Military Too'' By Phillip E Jones
/ref> He went on to be General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, the Eastern Army in India on 1 November 1920 before retiring in 1924. In retirement he was a member of the

Council of India The Council of India was the name given at different times to two separate bodies associated with British rule in India. The original Council of India was established by the Charter Act of 1833 as a council of four formal advisors to the Governor ...

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hudson, Havelock 1862 births 1944 deaths Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Northamptonshire Regiment officers People educated at Reading School Indian Army cavalry generals of World War I Indian Staff Corps officers British military personnel of the Boxer Rebellion British Indian Army generals British military personnel in colonial India