Sir Herbert Belfield
Birth nameHerbert Eversley Belfield
Born25 September 1857
Dover, Kent, England
Died19 April 1934 (1934-04-20) (aged 76)
Marylebone, London, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Years of service1876–1914
RankLieutenant General
Commands held4th Division
4th Infantry Brigade
Battles/warsFourth Anglo-Ashanti War
Second Boer War
First World War
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Distinguished Service Order
Mentioned in Despatches

Lieutenant General Sir Herbert Eversley Belfield, KCB, KCMG, KBE, DSO (25 September 1857 – 19 April 1934) was a British Army officer who commanded the 4th Division from 1907 to 1911.[1]

Military career

Belfield was born in Dover, the son of Capt. William Belfield. Educated at Wellington College,[2] Belfield was commissioned into the Royal Munster Fusiliers in 1876.[3] He was promoted to captain on 20 May 1885, and to major on 1 February 1893. He took part in the Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War in 1895, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 25 March 1896 and to colonel on 18 December 1899.[4]

With the outbreak of the Second Boer War (1899–1902), he was appointed Inspector General of the Imperial Yeomanry and Assistant Adjutant General to Lieutenant General Lord Methuen.[5] From January 1902 he held the local rank of brigadier general on the Staff in South Africa.[6] He was mentioned in despatches on 23 June 1902 by Lord Kitchener, Commander-in-Chief in South Africa during the latter part of the war,[7] and returned home in the SS Kinfauns Castle leaving Cape Town in early August 1902, after the war had ended.[8] For his service in the early part of the war he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the April 1901 South Africa Honours list (the award was dated to 29 November 1900;[9] he only received the actual decoration from King Edward VII at Buckingham Palace on 24 October 1902).[10] He was further awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in the October 1902 South Africa Honours list.[11]

Belfield was appointed Assistant Adjutant-General for 1st Army Corps on 11 December 1902,[12][13] Commander of 4th Infantry Brigade in 1903 and General Officer Commanding 4th Division in 1907[14] before retiring in 1914.[5] He was also Colonel of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment from 1909 to 1914.[5]

In retirement Belfield became Director of Prisoner of war work, negotiating prisoner exchanges and improvements in the treatment of prisoners[15] throughout the First World War.[5] There is a chair dedicated to his memory at York Minster Stoneyard.[16]

Family

In 1882, he married Emily Mary Binney, eldest daughter of Rev. Hibbert Binney, the Bishop of Nova Scotia; she died a year later. In 1888, he married Evelyn Mary Taylor; they had two daughters.[1][2]

References

  1. 1 2 "Obituary: Lieut.–General Sir H. E. Belfield". The Times. 20 April 1934. p. 9.
  2. 1 2 Anglo-Boer War
  3. ↑ "No. 24299". The London Gazette. 25 February 1876. p. 886.
  4. ↑ Hart′s Army list, 1903
  5. 1 2 3 4 Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
  6. ↑ "No. 27432". The London Gazette. 9 May 1902. p. 3092.
  7. ↑ "No. 27459". The London Gazette. 29 July 1902. pp. 4835–4837.
  8. ↑ "The Army in South Africa – Return of Troops". The Times. No. 36846. London. 14 August 1902. p. 8.
  9. ↑ "No. 27306". The London Gazette. 19 April 1901. p. 2696.
  10. ↑ "Court Circular". The Times. No. 36908. London. 25 October 1902. p. 8.
  11. ↑ "No. 27490". The London Gazette. 31 October 1902. p. 6897.
  12. ↑ "No. 27505". The London Gazette. 19 December 1902. p. 8759.
  13. ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36948. London. 11 December 1902. p. 10.
  14. ↑ Army Commands Archived 5 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ↑ Pursuit of an 'Unparalleled Opportunity'
  16. ↑ Belfield chair from York Minster chapel found in attic of stoneyard York Press, 17 February 2011
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