Launcelot Kiggell
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Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
Sir Launcelot Edward Kiggell, (2 October 1862 – 23 February 1954) was an Irish-born
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 who was Chief of the General Staff (CGS) for the British Armies in France under Field Marshal
Sir Douglas Haig Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, (; 19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior officer of the British Army. During the First World War, he commanded the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front from late 1915 until ...
from late 1915 to 1918.


Early life and military career

Kiggell was born in County Limerick on 2 October 1862, son of Launcelot John Kiggell (1829–1911), a
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 Major in the Cork Light Militia. He attended 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 infantry a ...
, and was commissioned into the
Royal Warwickshire Regiment The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, previously titled the 6th Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. The regiment saw service in many conflicts and wars, including the Second Boer War ...
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 10 May 1882.Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref>Matthew 2004, pp542-3 He was
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 ...
of the 2nd battalion 1886–90 and was promoted
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 3 April 1889. He attended
Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which i ...
from 1893 until December 1894. He was then an
instructor Instructor may refer to: Education * Instructor, a teacher of a specialised subject that involves skill: ** Teaching assistant ** Tutor ** Lecturer ** Fellow ** Teaching fellow *** Teaching associate *** Graduate student instructor ** Professor S ...
at Sandhurst from 1895 to 1897. From 1897 to 1899 he was Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General (DAAG) at South-Eastern District, and he was promoted to
major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
on 6 April 1898. He served in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
throughout 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 ...
. From late 1899 he served on the staff of General Sir Redvers Buller, then spent six months on the staff at HQ at Pretoria. He was promoted to
brevet Brevet may refer to: Military * Brevet (military), higher rank that rewards merit or gallantry, but without higher pay * Brevet d'état-major, a military distinction in France and Belgium awarded to officers passing military staff college * Aircre ...
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. ...
on 29 November 1900. He then served as Assistant Adjutant-General (AAG) for Harrissmith District, then held the same post in Natal after the end of the war. He was Mentioned in Despatches. After the war had ended, he returned to the United Kingdom in August 1902. From 1904 to 1907 he was Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General (DAAG) at Staff College, Camberley. In 1905 he presented a paper to the Aldershot Military Society, which was criticised for excessive emphasis on the lessons of the
Napoleonic Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
and Franco-Prussian Wars rather than the more recent Boer and
Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
s. He wrote a revised edition of Edward Hamley's ''Operations of War''. He wanted to change the name of Staff College to the "War School" and to train commanders rather than just staff officers, a view which he shared with Rawlinson,
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and Haig. He was a General Staff Officer (GSO1) at Horse Guards (Army Headquarters) from 1907 to 1909. He was awarded the CB in 1908. He was then
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 ...
in charge of Administration at Scottish Command from March to October 1909. He was Director of Staff Duties at the
War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...
from 1909 to 1913, in succession to Haig, of whom he was something of a protégé. He was considered as a successor for Henry Wilson as Commandant of Staff College in 1910, but the post went to Robertson; instead he succeeded Robertson as Commandant in 1913.
J F C Fuller Major-General John Frederick Charles "Boney" Fuller (1 September 1878 – 10 February 1966) was a senior British Army officer, military historian, and strategist, known as an early theorist of modern armoured warfare, including categorising p ...
, a student at Staff College at the time, saw Kiggell as "a highly educated soldier, but a doctrinaire … he possessed knowledge, but little vision … a dyspeptic, gloomy and doleful man".


First World War

He served in
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 ...
as Director of Military Training at the War Office from 1914, as Director of Home Defence at the War Office from later that year until 1915. He served briefly as
Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff Deputy Chief of the General Staff (DCGS) is the title of the deputy to the Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the British Army. From 1942 until 1968 the Deputy Chief was the third-ranking member of the General Staff, subordinate ...
at the end of 1915. When
Sir Douglas Haig Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, (; 19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior officer of the British Army. During the First World War, he commanded the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front from late 1915 until ...
was promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the BEF in December 1915, Kiggell was appointed
Chief of General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces ( militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (United States) * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Af ...
to the BEF. Richard Butler, Haig's preferred choice, was considered too junior for the role. Kiggell would hold this position until early 1918. Kiggell was awarded the KCB in 1916. On 1 January 1917, he was promoted to temporary
Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
.
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, liaising with French Grand Quartier General early in 1917, claimed that Kiggell "hated the French". Nigel Cave exonerates Kiggell from some of the questionable decisions which are sometimes attributed to him. Kiggell's stress on high-morale infantry attacks cannot be blamed for the catastrophe of the
First Day of the Somme The first day on the Somme, 1 July 1916, was the beginning of the Battle of Albert (1916), Battle of Albert the name given by the British to the first two weeks of the 141 days of the Battle of the Somme () in the First World War. Nine corps ...
, as an infantry advance in straight lines was only one of the formations suggested in Rawlinson's ''Fourth Army Tactical Notes'' and modern research has shown that it was not widely adopted. By contrast, the decision to prolong the Third Ypres Campaign into the wet weather of November 1917 (to capture the high ground of Passchendaele Ridge) and to postpone the initially more successful Cambrai Offensive from 20 September until November, were ultimately taken by Haig rather than by Kiggell. Nigel Cave writes that Haig was highly critical of what he perceived as unsatisfactory performance, even in such senior generals as Rawlinson (in 1915) and Plumer (in 1916), and that it is therefore unlikely that he would have retained Kiggell's services had he not been up to the job. Cave writes that Kiggell was "a solid effective administrator" and "basically sound and capable" but that "it is questionable whether he should have been allowed to carry on for so long". He is quoted, on seeing a flooded trench, as saying "Why wasn't I told it was like this". Along with a number of other senior officers at GHQ in the winter of 1917–18, including Butler and John Charteris, Kiggell was removed from his position, as a result of political pressure from Prime Minister
David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during t ...
. He was a scapegoat following the failure of allied forces to achieve a decisive result at the
Battle of Passchendaele The Third Battle of Ypres (german: link=no, Dritte Flandernschlacht; french: link=no, Troisième Bataille des Flandres; nl, Derde Slag om Ieper), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele (), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by t ...
and the German counterattack which retook almost all the British gains at Cambrai.Sir Launcelot Kiggell at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
/ref> However, he had not taken the leave which he was due, and two doctors testified that he was genuinely suffering from nervous exhaustion.


Later life

Kiggell was awarded the KCMG in 1918. He was Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey from 1918 until 1920, in which year he retired from the Army. He worked on the Official History of the Great War from 1920 to 1923, but had to give up the task on health grounds. Kiggell had married Eleanor Rose Field, daughter of a colonel, on 10 March 1888. They had three sons, born in 1890, 1894 and 1903. His wife died in 1948. Kiggell died, after a thirty-year retirement, at Felixstowe on 23 February 1954. His estate was valued for probate at £2,286 1s 3d (just over £56,000 at 2016 prices).http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/result.php Compute the Relative Value of a U.K. Pound]


References


Books

* *, essay on Kiggell written by Nigel Cave. , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kiggell, Launcelot 1862 births 1954 deaths Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers officers British Army lieutenant generals Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Academics of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army generals of World War I Military personnel from County Limerick Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Commandants of the Staff College, Camberley Academics of the Staff College, Camberley