William Lambton (British Army officer)

Major-General the Honourable Sir William Lambton, KCB, CMG, CVO, DSO (4 December 1863 – 11 October 1936) was a British Army officer who commanded 4th Division during the First World War.

Sir William Lambton
Born	4 December 1863
Died	11 October 1936
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1884–1920
Rank	Major-general
Commands held	1st Bn Coldstream Guards 4th Division
Battles/wars	Mahdist War Second Boer War First World War
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath

Military career

Born the son of George Lambton, 2nd Earl of Durham[1] he was educated at Eton College and the Royal Military College Sandhurst.[2]

Lambton was commissioned a lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards on 6 February 1884,[3] promoted to captain on 18 May 1892, and became aide-de-camp to the Governor General of Ireland in 1895, before he served with the Egyptian Army.[3] He took part in the Nile expedition of 1898 and fought at the Battle of Atbara and the Battle of Omdurman, and was promoted to major on 29 September 1898.[3]

Following the outbreak of the Second Boer War in late 1899, his battalion was sent to South Africa. As part of the Kimberley Relief Force, he was present at the Battle of Magersfontein on 10–11 December 1899, in which the defending Boer force defeated the advancing British forces amongst heavy casualties for the latter. Lambton was mentioned in the despatch from Lord Methuen, who described the battle and how Lambton had refused to be carried off the battlefield despite being wounded.[4] After his recovery, he served as Military Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief of the Transvaal,[1] and was Military Secretary to Lord Milner, High-Commissioner for Southern Africa, from December 1900, with the local rank of lieutenant-colonel.[5] He was appointed Commanding Officer of 1st Bn Coldstream Guards in 1912, Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster-General for London District in 1913 and Military Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force at the beginning of the European War before becoming General Officer Commanding 4th Division in 1915.[3] He retired in 1920.[3]

Family

In 1921 he married Lady Katherine de Vere Somerset, née Beauclerk, daughter of William Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St Albans; they had no children.[1]

References

1. The Peerage.com
2. The county families of the United Kingdom; or, Royal manual of the titled and untitled aristocracy of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland by Edward Walford, (Volume ed.59, yr.1919)
3. Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
4. "No. 27174". The London Gazette. 16 March 1900. pp. 1785–1787.
5. "No. 27441". The London Gazette. 10 June 1902. p. 3754.