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General Sir Herbert Alexander Lawrence, (8 August 1861 – 17 January 1943) was a general in the British Army, a banker and a businessman.
He worked alongside Major Douglas Haig (Assistant Adjutant General) as Intelligence head of General French's staff during the Second Boer War, and was Haig's Chief of Staff in the final year of World War I.
He was promoted to major on 22 November 1899, at the outbreak of the Second Boer War in South Africa.Hart's Army list, 1903 During the war, he served on the intelligence staff of Major General Sir John French's cavalry division with Douglas Haig and received a brevet promotion to lieutenant colonel in the 16th Lancers on 29 November 1900. In February 1901 he resumed his former role of DAAG at the War Office. For his service in the war, he was twice mentioned in despatches and received the Queen's South Africa Medal with six clasps. He stayed in South Africa throughout the war, which ended in May 1902 with the Peace of Vereeniging. Four months later, he was among 540 officers and men of the 17th Lancers who left Cape Town on the SS German in late September 1902, and arrived at Southampton in late October, when they were posted to Edinburgh.
He resigned his commission in 1903 and became a city banker. He was also a director of the Midland Railway. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel while commanding the King's Colonials in April 1904. In April 1908, when the Territorial Force was created, he was made an honorary colonel.
When the First World War started in August 1914 he was recalled for army service and became general staff officer of the 2nd Yeomanry Division, serving in Egypt and at Gallipoli. In June 1915 he was promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier general and given the command of the 127th (Manchester) Brigade, part of the 42nd (East Lancs) Territorial Division, a Territorial Force (TF) formation.
Just three months later, Lawrence was promoted again, this time to temporary major general, and became General Officer Commanding (GOC) 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division, another TF formation, at Gallipoli in September 1915 and during the evacuation at the end of 1915 he oversaw the withdrawal at Cape Helles beach. He was promoted to major general on the Active List in November and to temporary lieutenant general in July 1916. In 1916 he returned to Egypt and achieved success at the Battle of Romani, but asked to be relieved of his command later in the year and was transferred to the 71st Home Service Division in England.
In 1917 he was in France as commander of the 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division, with whom he remained until made chief intelligence officer on Haig's staff on 22 January 1918. He then took over from Sir Launcelot Kiggell as chief of the general staff of the BEF in France, for which he was granted the temporary rank of lieutenant general while holding the appointment. After being made a permanent lieutenant general in June, was promoted to full general, which in June 1919 was made permanent. He relinquished the post of CGS in April 1919.
Lawrence was made Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1917 and Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in 1926. He also received, as well as other overseas honours, the Croix de Guerre, was made a Commander of the Order of the Star of Roumania in September 1919, and was made a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour in 1919. He was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the citation for which reads:
In 1919 he was given the colonelcy of the 21st (Empress of India's) Lancers, transferring after amalgamation to the 17th/21st Lancers, a position he held until 1938. From February 1925 to 1932 he was also colonel of the Manchester Regiment, taking over from Major General Sir Willoughby Gwatkin.
He died in 1943 and was buried at Seal, near Sevenoaks, Kent. He had married Isabel Mary Mills, the daughter of Charles Mills, 2nd Baron Hillingdon, in Sevenoaks in 1892. Their two sons, Oliver James Lawrence and Michael Charles Lawrence, were both killed in action during the First World War.
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Later life
After the war he was appointed as a member of the Royal Commission on the Coal Industry in 1925, a trustee of the Imperial War Graves Commission in 1926 and a governor of Wellington College. He became chairman of Vickers in 1926 and of Glyn's Bank in 1934. He was also chairman of several other banks and a director of a number of companies. He lived for some time in Dean's Place in Alfriston and later moved to Little Berkhamsted.
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Further reading
Categories: 1861 Births, 1943 Deaths, 17th Lancers Officers, British Army Generals, Burials In Kent, Bankers From London, People Educated At Harrow School, Graduates Of The Royal Military College, Sandhurst, British Army Generals Of World War I, British Army Personnel Of The Second Boer War, British Bankers, Grand Crosses Of The Order Of The Crown, Grand Officers Of The Legion Of Honour, Grand Officers Of The Order Of Aviz, Knights Grand Cross Of The Order Of The Bath, Herbert, British Recipients Of The Croix De Guerre 1914–1918, British Recipients Of The Croix De Guerre, Recipients Of The Distinguished Service Medal, Younger Sons Of Barons, People Of The Gallipoli Campaign, People From Alfriston, People From Little Berkhamsted, Graduates Of The Staff College, Camberley, Foreign Recipients Of The Distinguished Service Medal, Military Personnel From The London Borough Of Enfield, Military Personnel From Hertfordshire, People From Southgate, London
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