Major-General Sir Henry West Hodgson (29 June 1868 – 5 February 1930) was an officer of 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 ...

. He was born 29 June 1868 and died 5 February 1930 and buried at the

St Mary Magdalene Church ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

Bolney

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He was the Regimental Colonel of the

14th King's Hussars The 14th King's Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1715. It saw service for two centuries, including the First World War, before being amalgamated with the 20th Hussars to form the 14th/20th King's Hussars in 19 ...

and the

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of the

15th (The King's) Hussars The 15th The King's Hussars was a Cavalry regiments of the British Army, cavalry regiment in the British Army. First raised in 1759, it saw service over two centuries, including the World War I, First World War, before being amalgamated with the 19 ...

. He also commanded the Australian Mounted Division during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of 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 ...

Early life

Henry West Hodgson was born 29 June 1868 the second son of Barnard Beckett Hodgson and Mabel Gertrude, married in 1839. Their older son Barnard Thornton Hodgson was a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

and became a

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 colonel. ...

4th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment.

Military career

Hodgson joined the

a cavalry regiment of the

in 1889. He was promoted captain in 1895 and became their

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

on 17 December 1893. His was next promoted to major on 29 November 1899, and later became the

in 1907, during which he was appointed to

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

on 5 November 1910. Following his service as commanding officer Hodgson was put on the

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 Eng ...

list on 10 October 1911.

First World War

By the First World War he was a in command of the

Eastern Mounted Brigade The Eastern Mounted Brigade was a formation of the Territorial Force of the British Army, organised in 1908. After serving dismounted in the Gallipoli Campaign, it was absorbed into the 3rd Dismounted Brigade in Egypt in February 1916. Format ...

and deployed with them to serve in the Gallipoli Campaign, where following losses it was amalgamated into the

3rd Dismounted Brigade D3, D03, D.III, D III or D-3 may refer to: Transportation Roads * London Buses route D3, a Transport for London contracted bus route * D3 motorway (Czech Republic), a motorway in the Czech Republic * D3 road (Croatia), a state road in Croatia * D3 ...

, on 22 February 1916 along with the remnants of the

South Eastern Mounted Brigade The South Eastern Mounted Brigade was a formation of the Territorial Force of the British Army, organised in 1908. After service in the Gallipoli Campaign, it was absorbed into the 3rd Dismounted Brigade in Egypt in February 1916. Formation ...

. this new brigade was still commanded by Hodgson. Following the Allied withdrawal he went to Egypt and fought with the

Western Frontier Force The Western Frontier Force was raised from British Empire troops during the Senussi Campaign from November 1915 to February 1917, under the command of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF). Orders for the formation of the force were issued on 2 ...

in the Senussi Campaign. In February 1917, he was given his first divisional command, the

Imperial Mounted Division The Australian Mounted Division originally formed as the Imperial Mounted Division in January 1917, was a mounted infantry, Australian Light Horse, light horse and yeomanry division (military), division. The division was formed in Egypt, and alon ...

, later renamed the Australian Mounted Division. His immediate commander General Harry Chauvel said of him "his masterpiece was probably his skilful withdrawal of his own division and attached brigades from Es Salt during the

second Trans-Jordan raid The Second Transjordan attack on Shunet Nimrin and Es Salt, officially known by the British as the Second action of Es Salt Battles Nomenclature Committee 1922 p. 33 and by others as the Second Battle of the Jordan,Erickson 2001 p. 195 was fought ...

, when, owing to the defection of certain of our Arab allies and a determined counter-attack by the enemy, he was surrounded on three sides, and his line of retreat almost cut off in extremely difficult country. His coolness and determination on that occasion, coupled with the bravery of his troops, saved Australia very serious losses, and earned him the complete confidence of his troops".

Later career

Hodgson was promoted to substantive major-general on 1 January 1919, having only been a substantive colonel and a temporary major-general beforehand. For his service in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

he was awarded the Order of the Nile (Second Class) in November 1919, by the

Sultan of Egypt Sultan of Egypt was the status held by the rulers of Egypt after the establishment of the Ayyubid dynasty of Saladin in 1174 until the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. Though the extent of the Egyptian Sultanate ebbed and flowed, it generally i ...

, and the

Military Order of Savoy The Military Order of Savoy was a military honorary order of the Kingdom of Sardinia first, and of the Kingdom of Italy later. Following the abolition of the Italian monarchy, the order became the Military Order of Italy. History The origin of ...

by Italy. He later became the Regimental Colonel of the

overseeing the amalgamation with the

20th Hussars The 20th Hussars was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. After service in the First World War it was amalgamated with the 14th King's Hussars to form became the 14th/20th King's Hussars in 1922. History Early wars The regiment was originally ...

when they became the

14th/20th King's Hussars The 14th/20th King's Hussars was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was created by the amalgamation of the 14th King's Hussars and the 20th Hussars in 1922 and, after service in the Second World War, it amalgamated with the Royal Hussa ...

. His last command was the

44th (Home Counties) Division The Home Counties Division was an infantry division of the Territorial Force, part of the British Army, that was raised in 1908. As the name suggests, the division recruited in the Home Counties, particularly Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex. ...

before retiring from the army in 1927. Henry West Hodgson died in London 5 February 1930 and was buried at the

Bolney

Footnotes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hodgson, Henry 1868 births 1930 deaths British Army major generals Military personnel from London British Army cavalry generals of World War I Companions of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order 15th The King's Hussars officers 14th King's Hussars officers 14th/20th King's Hussars officers