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 ...

Norman William Webber (22 February 1881 – 19 April 1950) was a staff officer in the British Army in World War I, who served as Chief of Staff (Brigadier-General, General Staff) to

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 Arthur Currie, Commander of the

Canadian Corps The Canadian Corps was a World War I corps formed from the Canadian Expeditionary Force in September 1915 after the arrival of the 2nd Canadian Division in France. The corps was expanded by the addition of the 3rd Canadian Division in December ...

, prior to and during the period known as ‘

Canada's Hundred Days Canada's Hundred Days is the name given to the series of attacks made by the Canadian Corps between 8 August and 11 November 1918, during the Hundred Days Offensive of World War I. Reference to this period as Canada's Hundred Days is due to the s ...

.’ He received 9 '

Mentions 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 ...

' during the war.

Early life and career

Webber was born in Horley,

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

on 22 February 1881, the eldest son of Henry Webber and his wife Emily (née Morris). Henry Webber later became well known for being the oldest British soldier to be killed in World War I, although that claim is now disputed. N W Webber – ‘Tommy’ to family and friends – was educated at Bradfield College and the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Sig ...

. He was gazetted a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

on 25 June 1899. From March 1901 he served with the 23rd Field Company, Royal Engineers in the Second Boer War under Major Spring Rice, inventor of the Rice

Blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...

. He was promoted to lieutenant on 31 December 1901. After peace was declared in May 1902, Webber left South Africa on board the SS ''Bavarian'' and arrived in the United Kingdom the following month. He was in

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

with the 32nd Field Company RE from 1903 to 1905, and was prominent in the RE polo team. In 1906 he was posted to India with the 3rd Bombay Sappers & Miners. In 1911 he commanded a section of the 19th Sappers as part of an expedition under Rear-Admiral Sir Edmond Slade to the

Makran Makran ( fa, مكران), mentioned in some sources as Mecran and Mokrān, is the coastal region of Baluchistan. It is a semi-desert coastal strip in Balochistan, in Pakistan and Iran, along the coast of the Gulf of Oman. It extends westwards, ...

coast in an attempt to discourage gun-running across the Persian Gulf. On his return to the UK Webber took a 2-year course at the Staff College,

Camberley Camberley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately south-west of Central London. The town is in the far west of the county, close to the borders of Hampshire and Berkshire. Once part of Windsor Forest, Cambe ...

, passing out in 1914.

First World War

Webber started the war as a

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 ...

with the 26th Field Company RE, attached to the British 1st Division. The Field Companies were heavily involved in demolitions in the retreat from

Mons Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. T ...

and in the building and repair of bridges and the construction of trenches at the

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345.1st Ypres the 26th were thrown into the line as infantry by General Bulfin at the cost of many casualties. Webber received a ‘Mention in Despatches’. On 2 November Webber was appointed GSO3 at 1st Division HQ. In June 1915, by now a

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 ...

, he was posted as GSO2 to the 47th London Division which was immediately embroiled in the Battle of Loos. In May 1916 Webber was promoted to temporary lieutenant-colonel and posted as

GSO1 A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

to the

2nd Canadian Division The 2nd Canadian Division (2 Cdn Div; french: 2e Division du Canada) is a formation of the Canadian Army in the province of Quebec, Canada. The present command was created 2013 when Land Force Quebec Area was re-designated. The main unit housed ...

, which was then engaged in the Battle of Mount Sorrel. He received the DSO in the

1916 Birthday Honours The 1916 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were ...

. In addition to his GSO duties Webber spent some time in the summer of 1916 at British Army HQ helping to compile ''SS135. Instructions for the Training of Divisions for Offensive Action''. This document, along with ''SS143. Instructions for the Training of Platoons for Offensive Action'', became the principal training manuals for the British and Dominion armies and were also adopted by the US Army later in the war. After the

Battle of Flers-Courcelette A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

, part of the

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France *Somme, Queensland, Australia *Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), a ...

campaign, the Canadian Corps was moved to west of Vimy Ridge, which as part of the Battle of Arras, it attacked behind a creeping barrage on 9 April 1917. This was a major Canadian success and Webber, who had been much involved in the planning of it, was praised by Brigadier-General Alexander Ross as being "the most approachable, the most helpful and most co-operative" of the British staff officers attached to the Canadian Corps. Webber received his sixth Mention for his efforts at Vimy Ridge. A further Mention came after the

’ struggle at Passchendaele. In December 1917 Webber was asked to write a report on the organisation of British

Anti-Aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

forces. He recommended that they be put in charge of an Assistant Director at GHQ. The report being accepted he was then given the job, an unusual posting for an Engineer officer. He was appointed

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(CMG) in the 1918 New Years Honours. In March 1918 Webber was posted to the War Office with the rank of Temporary Brigadier-General as Deputy-Director of Mobilisation, to assist Major-General Basil Burnett-Hitchcock in planning for the demobilisation of British and Dominion forces after the war. He was there less than a week before the Germans launched the Spring Offensive of 1918, the brunt of it against the

British 5th Army The Fifth Army was a field army of the British Army during World War I that formed part of the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front between 1916 and 1918. The army originated as the Reserve Corps during the preparations for the Brit ...

under General Sir Hubert Gough. Webber returned to France on the 24th and was immediately attached to Gough's staff at Dury, south of Amiens; however four days later Gough and his regular staff were dismissed by

Field Marshal 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 unti ...

, to be replaced by General

Sir Henry Rawlinson Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, 1st Baronet, KLS (5 April 1810 – 5 March 1895) was a British East India Company army officer, politician and Orientalist, sometimes described as the Father of Assyriology. His son, also Henry, was to beco ...

. Webber was not included in the dismissal, but on 8 April was posted as Brigadier-General, General Staff, to the

under Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Currie.

Battle of Amiens

Webber was deeply involved in the planning for and the great deception that preceded the Battle of Amiens (8 August 1918). The

advanced up to 8 miles in their sector on the first day of the battle. In the afternoon the Canadian Corps advanced HQ at

Gentelles Gentelles () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. It is part of the arrondissement of Amiens and the canton of Amiens-4.

was visited by General Rawlinson, and (Currie being absent) Webber asked Rawlinson if he could use the newly arrived British 32nd Division in lieu of the tired Canadian 3rd Division for the next day's proposed dawn advance. Rawlinson readily agreed and Webber issued orders on this basis. Later that evening he spoke by phone to Rawlinson's Chief of Staff, Major-General Sir Archibald Montgomery, who rescinded the permission to use the 32nd Division. New orders thus had to be issued late at night and in the ensuing confusion some Canadian units didn't get going until lunchtime the following day. Webber was upset that he got the blame for 'aiding and abetting' the 4th Army Commander by suggesting the initial change of plan. After Amiens the Canadian Corps moved to a position east of

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...

to face the German ‘ Drocourt-Quéant’ defensive line. Webber claimed credit for instigating the successful night attack on the first objective, the village of

Monchy-le-Preux Monchy-le-Preux () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography Monchy-le-Preux is situated southeast of Arras, at the junction of the D33 and the D339 roads. Junction 15 of the A1 autoroute ...

, on 26 August. The Canadian Corps then advanced across the

Canal du Nord The Canal du Nord (, literally ''Canal of the North'') is a long canal in northern France. The canal connects the Canal latéral à l'Oise at Pont-l'Évêque to the Sensée Canal at Arleux. The French government, in partnership with coal-min ...

, captured

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department and in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, regio ...

, then Denain and were planning the attack on Valenciennes when two weeks before the Armistice Webber was recalled to the War Office as deputy director of demobilisation under the director, Burnett-Hitchcock. His position with the Canadian Corps was taken over by Brigadier-General R. J. F. Hayter. Webber was again Mentioned in Despatches on 8 November 1918, and received his ninth Mention on 5 July 1919. Webber remained with the War Office until the end of 1919. During this time over 3 million British and Dominion troops had returned to civilian life. He then returned to the Staff College with the substantive rank of colonel. He retired from the army with the rank of honorary brigadier-general on 21 November 1921.

Post-war

In 1929 Webber joined the Army and Navy Stores department store group as assistant general manager. He became a director in 1944. He maintained a lifelong interest in returned servicemen's organisations, becoming honorary treasurer of the British Empire Services League in 1924, and attended his last meeting of the League's annual conference in Ottawa in 1949.

Personal life

On 26 April 1905 in Gibraltar Cathedral Webber married Maud F. A. H. Critchley-Salmonson. The wedding was attended by the governor of Gibraltar, Field Marshal Sir George White, who lent the couple his carriage and his launch to take them on their honeymoon. The marriage produced 3 children. Webber died in

Bexhill Hospital Bexhill Hospital is a National Health Service hospital at Bexhill-on-Sea in East Sussex, England. It is managed by the East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust. History Following a successful fund-raising campaign chaired by Admiral Charles Eustace Anson ...

19 April 1950.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webber, Norman W. 1881 births 1950 deaths British Army generals of World War I Royal Engineers officers Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Distinguished Service Order British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Military personnel from Surrey Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich People educated at Bradfield College Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley British Army brigadiers