Major-General Sir Reginald Salmond Curtis, (21 November 1863 – 11 January 1922) was a British army officer, responsible for the reorganisation and modernisation of the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Early life

Curtis was the eldest son of Major-General Reginald Curtis,

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

, and Marianne Emma Salmond. He was educated at

Cheltenham College Cheltenham College is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1841 as a Church of England foundation and is known for its outstanding linguis ...

and the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of Officer (armed forces), commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers o ...

. He received his commission as a lieutenant in the

in July 1883.Obituary of Reginald Salmond Curtis, 12 January 1922, accessed 18 April 2018
/ref>

Career in Africa

From 1890 to 1893 Curtis served in the

Egyptian Army The Egyptian Army (), officially the Egyptian Ground Forces (), is the land warfare branch (and largest service branch) of the Egyptian Armed Forces. Until the declaration of the Republic and the abolishment of the monarchy on 18 June 1953, it w ...

, and was present at the capture of Tokar, in the Sudan campaign of 1891. In the Ashanti expedition of 1895–6 he served as Director of Telegraphs. The

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

broke out in South Africa in October 1899. Curtis was at first aide-de-camp to the Engineer-in-Chief, and was afterwards appointed Assistant Director of Telegraphs. He was involved in military operations in the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...

from February to May 1900, including the battles of

Paardeberg The Battle of Paardeberg or Perdeberg ("Horse Mountain", 18–27 February 1900) was a major battle during the Second Anglo-Boer War. It was fought near ''Paardeberg Drift'' on the banks of the Modder River in the Orange Free State near Kimberl ...

and Driefontein, and operations at

Vet River The Vet River (, "fat river") is a westward-flowing tributary of the Vaal River in central South Africa. Its sources are between Marquard and Clocolan and the Vet River flows roughly northwestwards to meet the Vaal at the Bloemhof Dam near Hoopst ...

and

Zand River Zand may refer to: * Zend, a class of exegetical commentaries on Zoroastrian scripture * Zand District, an administrative subdivision of Iran * Zand Boulevard, in Shiraz, Iran * Z And, a variable star As a tribal/clan and dynastic name * Zand trib ...

. He served in the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

in May and June 1900, in actions near

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

and

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

, then east of Pretoria from July to October 1900, including the action at

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, also in

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

south of the

Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch language, Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibi ...

. For his service with the paramilitary

South African Constabulary The South African Constabulary (SAC) was a paramilitary force set up in 1900 under British Army control to police areas captured from the two independent Boer republics of Transvaal and Orange Free State during the Second Boer War. Its fir ...

during the later part of the war, he received a brevet promotion to lieutenant-colonel on 22 August 1902. After the end of the war in June 1902, Curtis remained in South Africa and was promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant colonel, staying there until 1908 as Chief Staff Officer, and then Inspector-General of the South African Constabulary. He was a member of the Inter-Colonial Council of the Transvaal and Orange River Colony. After returning to Britain, Curtis was posted to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

before becoming commandant of the

Royal School of Signals The Royal School of Signals is a military training establishment that is part of the United Kingdom's Defence School of Communications and Information Systems. It is at Blandford Camp in Dorset. The soldiers and officers who are attending courses ...

in 1912–13. He then succeeded Colonel

George Henry Fowke Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant General Sir George Henry Fowke (10 September 1864 – 8 February 1936) was a British Army officer who served on the staff of the British Expeditionary Force (World War I), British Expeditionary For ...

as an assistant adjutant general (AAG) at the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

in April 1913, which saw him promoted to colonel.

First World War

However, when the First World War broke out Curtis was assistant adjutant general at the

, where he remained until 1917. Curtis's fellow officer, Major General Sir George Scott-Moncrieff, explained the importance of Curtis's work in a letter to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' newspaper, dated 16 January 1922: In 1917, Curtis was appointed to command the

Cromarty Cromarty (; , ) is a town, civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish and former royal burgh in Ross and Cromarty, in the Highland (council area), Highland area of Scotland. Situated at the tip of the Black Isle on the southern shore of the mout ...

naval base defences, before taking charge of administration at Aldershot. He retired in 1920, having been promoted to major-general and knighted for his services.

Family

Curtis married the Hon. Hilda Margaret, daughter of

Viscount Barrington Viscount Barrington, of Ardglass in the County Down, County of Down, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1720 for the lawyer, theologian and politician John Barrington, 1st Viscount Barrington, John Barrington. He was made B ...

in 1894, and they had three daughters.Peerage entry for Reginald Salmond Curtis, accessed 18 April 2018
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Reginald Salmond British Army generals of World War I Royal Engineers officers 1863 births 1922 deaths Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George British Army major generals Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich People educated at Cheltenham College British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British military personnel of the Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War Military personnel from Southend-on-Sea