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 Newport Charles Heath (15 October 1860 – 29 July 1915) 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 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 ...

, who commanded the 48th (South Midland) Division from 1914 to 1915.

Early career

Heath was born into a military family, the second surviving son of Major-General Alfred Heath, Royal Artillery. He attended

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , hea ...

and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infant ...

, before joining the 1st Battalion,

South Staffordshire Regiment The South Staffordshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for only 68 years. The regiment was created in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot an ...

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 ...

on 22 October 1881.Hart′s Army list, 1903 He served in the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War and the 1884-85 Nile Expedition, where he was mentioned in dispatches for his role at the

Battle of Kirbekan The Battle of Kirbekan was a battle in the Mahdist War. It was fought February 10, 1885, when the British Nile Column, about 1,000 strong, under William Earle (soldier), General Earle, stormed the heights of Kirbekan, which were held by a strong ...

.''Who Was Who'' He transferred into the 1st Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry in 1889, was promoted to captain on 6 February 1889 with a brevet rank of major the following day. He later attended the

Staff College Staff colleges (also command and staff colleges and War colleges) train military officers in the administrative, military staff and policy aspects of their profession. It is usual for such training to occur at several levels in a career. For e ...

, and on leaving took up a posting as a staff officer in the intelligence department at Army Headquarters in 1898 with the substantive rank of major from 27 August 1898. He remained on the staff during the first part 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 South ...

, as he was in November 1899 appointed assistant adjutant-general and the chief staff officer for the lines of communication in South Africa. Mentioned in despatches, he received the brevet 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 29 November 1900. In October 1901 he returned to his regiment to command the 2nd Battalion, stationed in South Africa. Following the end of the Second Boer war in June 1902, he returned to the United Kingdom on board the SS ''Ortona'', which arrived in Southampton in September that year. On arrival he transferred to the command of the 1st Battalion stationed at Aldershot Garrison, with the substantive rank of lieutenant-colonel from 7 September 1902.

Senior command

Heath returned to the staff in 1904, promoted to colonel and made the assistant adjutant-general of the Second Corps, then posted to Army headquarters in 1906 and made GSO.1 in 1908. From 1910 to 1914 he commanded the regular 11th Infantry Brigade, at Colchester. At the outbreak of the First World War, Heath had recently relinquished command of 11th Brigade to

Aylmer Hunter-Weston Lieutenant General Sir Aylmer Gould Hunter-Weston (23 September 1864 – 18 March 1940) was a British Army officer who served in World War I at Gallipoli in 1915 and in the very early stages of the Somme Offensive in 1916. He was also a Scottis ...

. He was later given command of a newly mobilised Territorial division, the South Midland Division, and commanded it when it first went to France; however, in mid-June, he relinquished command after falling ill.Wright, p. 12 He died shortly thereafter, on 29 July, aged 54 and was buried in

Brookwood Cemetery Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regi ...

in Woking.

Notes

References

* "HEATH, Maj.-Gen. Henry Newport Charles", in * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heath, Henry 1860 births 1915 deaths Companions of the Order of the Bath South Staffordshire Regiment officers Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry officers British Army personnel of the Anglo-Egyptian War British Army personnel of the Mahdist War British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army generals of World War I Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Burials at Brookwood Cemetery British Army major generals British military personnel killed in World War I