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 ...

Robert George Broadwood, CB (14 March 1862 – 21 June 1917) was Commander of British Troops in South China and also served in the

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 ...

where played a large role in the Battle of Driefontein.

Military career

Robert was the third son and child of Thomas Broadwood and Mary Athlea Matthews and a grandson of John Broadwood, the founder of the Broadwood Piano Company. He was educated at

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

. He never married. He joined the 12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales) in 1881Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> and participated in the Dongola Expeditionary Force and Egyptian Campaign in 1896. Between 1893 and 1896 he worked closely with

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

ian forces allied with

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and was present at

Atbara Atbara (sometimes Atbarah) ( ar, عطبرة ʿAṭbarah) is a city located in River Nile State in northeastern Sudan. Because of its links to the railway industry, Atbara is also known as the "Railway City'. As of 2007, its population is ...

and

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

. As a Lieutenant Colonel he served under

Lord Kitchener Lord Kitchener may refer to: * Earl Kitchener, for the title * Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, (; 24 June 1850 – 5 June 1916) was a senior British Army officer and colonial administrator. ...

in the

Battle of Omdurman The Battle of Omdurman was fought during the Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan between a British–Egyptian expeditionary force commanded by British Commander-in-Chief ( sirdar) major general Horatio Herbert Kitchener and a Sudanese army of th ...

in Sudan during the Nile Campaign of 1898 launched to suppress the Sudanese Mahdist revolt. In this capacity he was placed in charge of the contingent of Egyptian cavalry fighting alongside

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with " republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from th ...

regulars. At the start of the battle Lord Kitchener placed this contingent on the British right flank to protect a small hill there. The Sudanese initially attacked this flank and Broadwood was commended in the official dispatch back to the War Office in England for his adept leadership. He was also awarded the Order of Osmanieh (Fourth Class) as a result of this incident. Broadwood served as a cavalry officer during 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 South ...

(1899–1902). As a Brigadier General he commanded Commonwealth forces at the Surprise of Sanna's Post (aka Korn Spruit) in late March 1900. In this engagement

Boer Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this a ...

forces achieved complete tactical surprise and Broadwood's forces suffered over 150 fatalities in the resulting ambush. Broadwood 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 ...

dated 31 March 1900, when the commander-in-chief, Lord Roberts, described him as "commanding the 2nd Cavalry Brigade with exceptional ability and dash throughout the operations". For his services during the war, he was appointed a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as ...

(CB) on 29 November 1900, but was not invested until he was back in England, by King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

at Buckingham Palace on 8 August 1902. He later served as Commander of Troops in Natal, South Africa from 1903 to 1904. He went on to serve as Commander of British Troops in South China in 1906. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

he served as Commanding General of the

1st Mounted Division The 1st Mounted Division was a Yeomanry Division of the British Army active during World War I. It was formed in August 1914 for the home defence of the United Kingdom from four existing mounted brigades of the Territorial Force, each of three ...

from 29 September 1914. In July 1916, he was still in command when the division was reorganized as the 1st Cyclist Division. He took command of the

57th (2nd West Lancashire) Division The 57th (2nd West Lancashire) Division was an infantry formation of the Territorial Force created in 1914 as part of the massive expansion of the British Army during the First World War. It served on the Western Front during 1917 and 1918. The ...

, which fought at the Second Battle of Passchendaele, from 20 October 1916 until he died of wounds suffered in battle on 21 June 1917. He is buried in the Anzac Cemetery near Sailly-sur-la-Lys.Anzac Cemetery
/ref>

References

Bibliography

* * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Broadwood, Robert George 1862 births 1917 deaths British Army personnel of the Mahdist War British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army cavalry generals of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I Companions of the Order of the Bath 12th Royal Lancers officers British expatriates in China People educated at Charterhouse School Military personnel from London British Army lieutenant generals People from Chelsea, London Burials in Hauts-de-France