Sir Alexander Hamilton-Gordon
1917 portrait by Francis Dodd
Born(1859-07-06)6 July 1859
Died13 February 1939(1939-02-13) (aged 79)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Years of service1880–1920
RankLieutenant General
Commands heldIX Corps
Aldershot Command
Battles/warsSecond Anglo-Afghan War
Second Boer War
First World War
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Mentioned in Despatches (4)
Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown (Belgium)
Croix de Guerre (Belgium)
Knight of the Legion of Honour (France)

Lieutenant General Sir Alexander Hamilton-Gordon, KCB (6 July 1859 – 13 February 1939) was a senior British Army commander during the First World War.

Early life

Hamilton-Gordon was one of ten children of General Sir Alexander Hamilton-Gordon and Caroline Herschel. His paternal grandfather was George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1852 until 1855. His maternal grandfather was John Herschel.

Military career

Educated at Winchester College, Hamilton-Gordon was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1880.[1] His first military service was in the Second Anglo-Afghan War in 1880.[1] Hamilton-Gordon later served in the Second Boer War, taking part in actions at Ladysmith, Spion Kop, Vaal Kranz and Tugela Heights.[1] He became Deputy Assistant Adjutant General for Intelligence in South Africa in early 1901.[1] Arriving back in the United Kingdom, he briefly became an instructor at the School of Gunnery before he was appointed a Deputy Assistant Quarter-Master-General at Aldershot in October 1901.[2][3]

In 1910, Hamilton-Gordon took a posting as Director of Military Operations in India, where he served until 1914, when he became General Officer Commanding-in-Chief for Aldershot Command.[1] In 1916, he was given command of IX Corps,[1] serving at the Battle of Messines and the Third Battle of the Aisne. He was relieved in 1918 and retired in 1920.[1]

Family

In 1888, Hamilton-Gordon married Isabel Newmarch, with whom he had three children.[4]

Hamilton-Gordon died on 13 February 1939.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
  2. ↑ "No. 27387". The London Gazette. 13 December 1901. p. 8840.
  3. ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36597. London. 28 October 1901. p. 10.
  4. ↑ ThePeerage.com
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