Major-General Sir Wilkinson Dent Bird, (4 May 1869 – 6 January 1943) was an officer of the British Army during the late-19th century and the First World War.

Early career

Dent was born in 1869, the son of J.D. Bird, a captain in 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 ...

. After studying at Wellington and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, he took a commission as 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 Queen's Royal Regiment on 22 August 1888. He was promoted to lieutenant on 1 December 1890, and 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 21 April 1897. That year, he served with the

Niger Expedition ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesmentioned 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 ...

and received a brevet promotion 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 June 1897. His next posting took him to the North-Western Frontier of India.''Who Was Who'' He served with his regiment in the Second Boer War, where he was present at the Relief of Mafeking and was again mentioned in despatches, but was severely wounded and returned home in 1900. For his service, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).

Staff duties and regimental command

He was back as a regular captain in his regiment in July 1902. From 1903 to 1905 he was chief instructor at the School of Musketry, and from 1905 to 1909 a lecturer at the

Staff College, India Staff may refer to: Pole * Staff, a weapon used in stick-fighting ** Quarterstaff, a European pole weapon * Staff of office, a pole that indicates a position * Staff (railway signalling), a token authorizing a locomotive driver to use a particu ...

. He was promoted to a brevet lieutenant-colonelcy in 1909, and appointed a General Staff Officer, Grade 2, at the War Office the following year. In 1913 he was transferred to command the 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles, and promoted to Colonel. He was in command of the battalion at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, when it was sent to France with 7th Brigade, 3rd Division. On 26 August, at the Battle of Le Cateau, he assumed command of the 7th Brigade when its commander, Brigadier McCracken, was disabled by an artillery shell. He was severely wounded at the First Battle of the Aisne, on 15 September; his leg had to be amputated as a result, and on recovery he returned to the general staff rather than regimental service. He was made a General Staff Officer, Grade 1 in 1915, and appointed Director of Staff Duties in 1916. In 1918, he took up the post of lieutenant-governor of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, and retired in 1923, having received a promotion to major-general in 1921. He was appointed the

Lees Knowles Lecturer The Lees Knowles Lectureship was established at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1912 and first started in 1915. Lectures are given by distinguished experts in military and naval history and selection for this lectureship is considered one of the hi ...

at Trinity College, Cambridge for the year 1927.Home > About Trinity > Public Lectures > Lees Knowles Lectures > Past Lees Knowles Lecturers
Trinity College, Cambridge. From 1929 to 1939, he served as the colonel of the Queen's Royal Regiment.

Family

Bird married Winifred Barker in 1902; the couple had two daughters.

Notes

References

*'' History of the Great War: Military Operations, France and Belgium 1914'', by J. E. Edmonds. Macmillan & Co., London, 1922
Digitised copy
*"BIRD, Major-General Sir Wilkinson Dent". (2007). In ''Who Was Who''. Online edition. *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bird, Wilkinson 1869 births 1943 deaths Queen's Royal Regiment officers Royal Ulster Rifles officers British Army major generals People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Companions of the Distinguished Service Order British Army generals of World War I Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Order of the Bath British amputees Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst