Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

Herbert Charles Onslow Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer (13 March 1857 – 16 July 1932) was a senior

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer who fought in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, being perhaps most notable for commanding the Second Army of the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front from 1915 to 1918.

Early life and education

Herbert Plumer was son of Hall Plumer of Malpas Lodge,

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignt ...

, Devon (a grandson of Sir Thomas Plumer), and Louisa Alice, daughter of Henry Turnley, of Kensington. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

Military career

Plumer was commissioned as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

into the 65th Regiment of Foot on 11 September 1876. He joined his regiment in India and became adjutant of his battalion on 29 April 1879. Promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

on 29 May 1882, he accompanied his battalion to the

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

in 1884 as part of the

Nile Expedition The Nile Expedition, sometimes called the Gordon Relief Expedition (1884–1885), was a British mission to relieve Major-General Charles George Gordon at Khartoum, Sudan. Gordon had been sent to Sudan to help the Egyptians withdraw their garr ...

. Plumer was present at the battle of El Teb in February 1884 and the battle of Tamai in March, and was mentioned in dispatches. He spent from 1886 to 1887 attending the Staff College at Camberley, England, before being appointed deputy assistant adjutant general in

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

on 7 May 1890. He was promoted to

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

on 22 January 1893 and posted to the 2nd Battalion the York and Lancaster Regiment before being appointed assistant military secretary to the General Officer Commanding Cape Colony in December 1895. He went to

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

in 1896 to disarm the local police force following the Jameson Raid and then later that year returned there to command the Matabele Relief Force during the

Second Matabele War The Second Matabele War, also known as the First Chimurenga, was fought between 1896 and 1897 in the region that later became Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). The conflict was initially between the British South Africa Company and the Mata ...

. He became deputy assistant adjutant-general at

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

with promotion to brevet lieutenant colonel on 8 May 1897. In 1899 Plumer returned to

where he raised a force of mounted infantry and, having been promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant colonel on 17 October 1900, he led them at the Relief of Mafeking during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

. He was promoted to

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

on 29 November 1900 and was then given command of a mixed force which captured General Christiaan de Wet's wagon train at Hamelfontein in February 1901. Plumer arrived back in the United Kingdom in April 1902, and two months later was received in audience by King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

on his return. In a despatch dated 23 June 1902, Major General Lord Kitchener, Commander-in-Chief in South Africa during the latter part of the war, wrote how Plumer had "invariable displayed military qualifications of a very high order. Few officers have rendered better service." He was promoted to major general for distinguished service in the field on 22 August 1902, and was appointed Commander of the 4th Brigade within 1st Army Corps on 1 October 1902. The following year he became General Officer Commanding 10th Division within IV Army Corps and General Officer Commanding Eastern District in December 1903. He became

Quartermaster-General to the Forces The Quartermaster-General to the Forces (QMG) is a senior general in the British Army. The post has become symbolic: the Ministry of Defence organisation charts since 2011 have not used the term "Quartermaster-General to the Forces"; they simply ...

in February 1904, General Officer Commanding 7th Division in April 1906 and General Officer Commanding 5th Division within Irish Command in May 1907. Promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank 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 battlefield, who was norma ...

on 4 November 1908, he went on to be General Officer Commanding-in-Chief for Northern Command in November 1911. In addition to his military duties, he served as the

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

for London Boy Scouts from 1910 to 1912.

First World War

Following the unexpected death of Lieutenant General Sir James Grierson on his arrival in France in 1914, Plumer was considered for command of one of two corps of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) alongside the GOC I Corps, Lieutenant General

Douglas Haig Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig (; 19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the British Army. During the First World War he commanded the British Expeditionary F ...

: this position eventually went to General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien. Plumer was sent to France in February 1915 and given command of V Corps which he led at the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915. BEF commanders and chiefs of staff 1918

He succeeded Smith-Dorrien in command of the Second Army of the BEF in May and, having been promoted to full general on 11 June 1915, and having been largely unemployed during the battles of the previous two years, he won an overwhelming victory over the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...

at the Battle of Messines in June 1917. The battle started with the simultaneous explosion of a series of mines placed by the Royal Engineers' tunnelling companies beneath German lines. The detonation created large craters and was described as the ''loudest explosion in human history''. After the mines were fired, Plumer's men left their trenches and advanced 3,000 yards. He won further victories at the battle of the Menin Road Ridge and the battle of Polygon Wood in September 1917 and the battle of Broodseinde in October 1917 advancing another 5,000 yards in the process. In November 1917 Plumer, who in August had been made colonel of the York and Lancaster Regiment, was given command of the Italian Expeditionary Force sent to the Italian Front after the disaster at Caporetto. Early in 1918, Plumer was sought by

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. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...

for the position of Chief of the Imperial General Staff as a replacement for General Sir William Robertson: he declined the position. Plumer instead commanded the Second Army during the final stages of the war, during the

German spring offensive The German spring offensive, also known as ''Kaiserschlacht'' ("Kaiser's Battle") or the Ludendorff offensive, was a series of German Empire, German attacks along the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during the World War I, First Wor ...

and the Allied Hundred Days Offensive.

Later career

Plumer was appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief the

British Army of the Rhine British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was the name given to British Army occupation forces in the Rhineland, West Germany, after the First and Second World Wars, and during the Cold War, becoming part of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) tasked ...

in December 1918 and Governor of Malta in May 1919. He was promoted to

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

on 31 July 1919, and was created Baron Plumer of Messines and of Bilton on 18 October 1919. In August 1925 he was appointed High Commissioner of the British Mandate for Palestine.Official Gazette of the Government of Palestine, Extraordinary issue, 25 August 1925. He resisted Arab pressure to reverse commitments made by the

British Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

in the Balfour Declaration, and dealt firmly with both the

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

s and the Arab Nationalists. On one occasion, an Arab delegation protested a proposal by Jewish battalions to install their regimental colours in the chief synagogues, saying they "wouldn't be responsible for the consequences". Plumer replied, 'That's all right, you're not asked to be responsible for the consequences. I'll be responsible." In Mandatory Palestine Plumer gained a reputation as being "genuinely even handed" and was one of the few British administrators who was consistently popular with both the Jewish community and the Arab community in that territory. Privately, he was sympathetic to the cause of establishing a homeland for the Jewish people but he tried his best to "be fair" to Arab concerns as well while he was High Commissioner. On 24 July 1927 he conducted the

inauguration In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inau ...

ceremony for the Menin Gate memorial at

Ypres Ypres ( ; ; ; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres/Ieper ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. Plumer, placed on half-pay in November 1928, was created Viscount Plumer for his "long and distinguished public services" on 3 June 1929.

Death

Plumer died at his home in

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End. ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 16 July 1932 at the age of 75. His body was interred in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

Family

In July 1884 Plumer married Annie Constance Goss (1858–1941), daughter of George and Eleanor Goss; they had three daughters and one son. Their youngest daughter, Marjorie, married Maj. W.H. Brooke who had studied at

University College, Oxford University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...

and was a chief mourner at the

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

funeral of Robert Middleton in October 1912.

Honours

British * Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath – 1 January 1918 (KCB – 29 June 1906; CB – 19 April 1901) * Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George – 1 January 1916 * Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order – 14 July 1917 * Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire – 1924 * Knight of Grace of the Venerable Order of St John – 23 June 1925 Foreign *

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

(France) – 14 December 1917 * Croix de Guerre (Belgium) – 11 March 1918 * Croix de Guerre with palm (France) – 11 March 1919 *

Army Distinguished Service Medal The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a military decoration of the United States Army that is presented to soldiers who have distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious service to the government in a duty of great responsibility. ...

(United States) – 12 July 1919 * Grand Cordon, Order of the Rising Sun (Japan) – 21 January 1921

Citations

General and cited sources

* * * * * * *

External links

National Portrait Gallery
, - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Plumer, Herbert Onslow, 1st Viscount 1857 births 1932 deaths Barons created by George V British Army generals of World War I British Army personnel of the Mahdist War British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British High Commissioners of Palestine British colonial army officers British field marshals Burials at Westminster Abbey Diplomatic peers Governors and governors-general of Malta Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Mandatory Palestine Military personnel from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea People from Kensington People educated at Eton College People of the Second Matabele War Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club British recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Viscounts created by George V Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom York and Lancaster Regiment officers