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 a ...

Lionel Charles Dunsterville, (9 November 1865 – 18 March 1946) 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 ...

officer, who led

Dunsterforce Dunsterforce was an Allied military force, established in December 1917 and named after its commander, Major-General Lionel Dunsterville. The force comprised fewer than 350 Australian, New Zealand, British and Canadian officers and NCOs, who ...

across present-day

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

towards the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

and

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

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 ...

Early life

Lionel Charles Dunsterville was born in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

, Switzerland on 9 November 1865, the son of Lieutenant General Lionel D'Arcy Dunsterville (1830–1912) of the Indian Army and his wife, Susan Ellen (1835–1875). He went to school with

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

and

George Charles Beresford George Charles Beresford (10 July 1864 – 21 February 1938) was a British studio photographer, originally from Drumlease, Dromahair, County Leitrim. Early life A member of the Beresford family headed by the Marquess of Waterford and the third ...

at The United Services College, a public school later absorbed into

Haileybury and Imperial Service College Haileybury is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) near Hertford in England. It is a member of the Rugby Group and, though originally a major boys' public school in the Victorian era, it is now co-educational, enro ...

, which prepared British young men for careers in Her Majesty's Army. He served as the inspiration for the character "

Stalky ''Stalky & Co.'' is a novel by Rudyard Kipling about adolescent boys at a British boarding school. It is a collection of school stories whose three juvenile protagonists display a know-it-all, cynical outlook on patriotism and authority. It wa ...

" in Kipling's collection of school stories ''

Stalky & Co ''Stalky & Co.'' is a novel by Rudyard Kipling about adolescent boys at a British boarding school. It is a collection of school stories whose three juvenile protagonists display a know-it-all, cynical outlook on patriotism and authority. It was ...

''. He was also uncle to

H.D. Harvey-Kelly Hubert Dunsterville Harvey-Kelly, (9 February 1891 – 29 April 1917) was a British Army officer and military aviator. During the First World War, he was credited with being the first Royal Flying Corps (RFC) pilot to land in France, and of bein ...

, the first

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

pilot to land in France during the

Military career

Dunsterville was commissioned into the

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 ...

in the

Sussex Regiment The Royal Sussex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1966. The regiment was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foot a ...

on 23 August 1884. He later transferred to the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

, was 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 23 August 1895, and served on the North-West Frontier and in

Waziristan Waziristan (Pashto and ur, , "land of the Wazir") is a mountainous region covering the former FATA agencies of North Waziristan and South Waziristan which are now districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Waziristan covers some . ...

. As a railway staff officer he served in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

during 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 ...

1900–02, for which he was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

(by Major-General

O'Moore Creagh General (United Kingdom), General Sir Garrett O'Moore Creagh, (2 April 1848 – 9 August 1923), known as Sir O'Moore Creagh, was a senior British Army officer and an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the ...

, commander of British forces in China after the end of the main hostilities), and 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 23 August 1902. Commodore Norris and General Dunsterforce

In the

Dunsterville held a posting in India. At the end of 1917 the army appointed Major-General Dunsterville to lead an Allied force (

) of fewer than 1,000 Australian, British, Canadian and New Zealand troops, drawn from the

Mesopotamian Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

and Western Fronts, accompanied by armoured cars, from

Hamadan Hamadan () or Hamedan ( fa, همدان, ''Hamedān'') ( Old Persian: Haŋgmetana, Ecbatana) is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. At the 2019 census, its population was 783,300 in 230,775 families. The majority of people living in Ha ...

in the Zagros Mountains of Persia for some 350 km across

Qajar Persia Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...

. His mission set out from Baghdad in January 1918, aiming to gather information, to train and command local forces, and to prevent the spread of German

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

.The Azerbaijani Turks: power and identity under Russian rule, Audrey L. Altstadt
On his way to

Enzeli Bandar-e Anzali ( fa, بندرانزلی, also Romanized as Bandar-e Anzalī; renamed as Bandar-e Pahlavi during the Pahlavi dynasty) is a city of Gilan Province, Iran. At the 2011 census, its population was 144,664. Anzali is one of the mo ...

on the Persian Caspian coast he also fought

Mirza Kuchik Khan Mirza Kuchik Khan ( fa, میرزا كوچک خان) (common alternative spellings ''Kouchek'', ''Koochek'', ''Kuchak'', ''Kuchek'', ''Kouchak'', ''Koochak'', ''Kuçek'') (October 12, 1880 – December 2, 1921) was an Iranian twentieth-century ...

and his Jangali forces in

Manjil Manjil ( fa, Manjil, also Romanized as Manjīl and Menjīl ; derived from Manzil) is a city in the Central District of Rudbar County, Gilan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 16,028, in 4,447 families. Geography Manjil is kn ...

. Dunsterville was assigned to re-inforce the defence of the key oil-field and port of

(in present-day

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

), held from 26 July 1918 by the anti-Soviet

Centro Caspian Dictatorship The Centro-Caspian Dictatorship, also known as the Central-Caspian Dictatorship (russian: Диктатура Центрокаспия, ''Diktatura Tsentrokaspiya'') ( Azerbaijani: Sentrokaspi Diktaturası), was a short-lived anti-Soviet administ ...

. Dunsterforce personnel first arrived in Baku on 6 August 1918. However, the British and their allies had to abandon Baku on 14 September 1918 in the face of an onslaught by 14,000 Ottoman troops and Azerbaijani Generals like

Ali-Agha Shikhlinski Ali Agha Ismail Agha oghlu Shikhlinski ( az, Əli Ağa İsmayıl Ağa oğlu Şıxlinski;); – )Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are in the Julian calendar with the start of year adjusted to 1 January. All other dates in this article are in ...

and Gaimmegam Hasan Bey, who took the city the next day. The

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

regained control of Baku within two months as a result of the Ottoman armistice of 30 October 1918. Promoted to major general in 1918, Dunsterville died in 1946 at Torquay, Devon, England.

Family

Captain Lionel Charles Dunsterville of the Indian Staff Corps married Margaret Emily (known as "Daisie"), daughter of Captain John Walter Keyworth late 48th Regiment, in November 1897 at Bishopsteignton, Devon, England. Their elder son, Lionel Walter Dunsterville, was born on 9 September 1902 at Tientsin, China; their younger son Galfrid Charles Keyworth was born on 18 February 1905; and their daughter Susannah Margaret on 14 July 1911. Galfrid co-authored books on Venezuelan orchids with L. A. Garay. Susannah's first husband was the Swiss lawyer and diplomat

August R. Lindt August Rudolf Lindt (5 August 1905 – 14 April 2000), also known as Auguste R. Lindt, was a Swiss lawyer and diplomat. He served as Chairman of UNICEF from 1953 to 1954 and as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from 1956 to 1960. Care ...

, the son of a renowned chocolate manufacturer. Her second husband was Colditz escapee

Damiaen Joan van Doorninck Damiaen J. van Doorninck (29 August 1902 Vught, Netherlands - 24 September 1987, Mynachlog-ddu, Wales

, whom she met in Switzerland during the Second World War as a Resistance worker.

Sources

Encyclopaedia of the First World War- Who's Who

References

* * * * ''Stalky's Reminiscences'' by Major-General L. C. Dunsterville (London: 1928; re-issued under title ''Stalky's Adventures'' in 1941) * ''Something of myself'' by Rudyard Kipling * ''Stalky and Co.'' by Rudyard Kipling * S. P. Menefee, "Dunsterville, Lionel Charles," in H. C. G. Mathews and Brian Harrison (eds.), ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', vol. 17 (2004): pp. 361–63. * *

External links

*
The Adventures of Dunsterforce by L.C. Dunsterville

More Yarns by L.C. Dunsterville

Dunsterforce: A Case Study of Coalition Warfare in the Middle East 1918–1919
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunsterville, Lionel 1865 births Royal Sussex Regiment officers British military personnel of the Boxer Rebellion British military personnel of the Russian Civil War 1946 deaths Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War British Indian Army generals Indian Army generals of World War I Companions of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Order of the Star of India People educated at United Services College People from Lausanne