Walter Kitchener
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Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...
Sir Frederick Walter Kitchener (26 May 1858 – 6 March 1912), also known as Walter Kitchener, was a British soldier and colonial administrator.


Military career

Kitchener was the youngest son of Henry Horatio Kitchener (1805–1894) and his wife Frances Anne Chevallier (1826–1864). In 1876 he followed his elder brother Herbert Kitchener in taking up a career in the
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
. Initially commissioned as an unattached sub-lieutenant, he joined the 14th Foot (later the
West Yorkshire Regiment The West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) (14th Foot) was an infantry regiment of the British Army. In 1958 it amalgamated with the East Yorkshire Regiment (15th Foot) to form the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire which was ...
) in 1877. He served in the
Second Anglo-Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the latter was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dy ...
as a transport officer to the Kabul Field Force and took part in the first Battle of Charasiab and the battle of Karez Meer. Kitchener also saw action in the Chardeh Valley. He was promoted to
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
on 11 November 1882, to
major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...
on 7 March 1892, and to lieutenant-colonel on 18 November 1896. He later served in Egypt during the
Mahdist War The Mahdist War (; 1881–1899) was fought between the Mahdist Sudanese, led by Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided One"), and the forces of the Khedivate of Egypt, initially, and later th ...
where his brother Lord Kitchener was commanding British forces. During the war Frederick was made director of Transport during the 1898 Nile expedition and advance on
Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...
. He was appointed commander of the
Kordofan Kordofan ( ') is a former province of central Sudan. In 1994 it was divided into three new federal states: North Kordofan, South Kordofan and West Kordofan. In August 2005, West Kordofan State was abolished and its territory divided between N ...
force and took part in the
Battle of Omdurman The Battle of Omdurman, also known as the Battle of Karary, was fought during the Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan between a British–Egyptian expeditionary force commanded by British Commander-in-Chief (sirdar) major general Horatio Herbert ...
which resulted in the recapture of Khartoum which had been captured by Mahdist's during the
Siege of Khartoum The siege of Khartoum (also known as the battle of Khartoum or fall of Khartoum) took place from 13 March 1884 to 26 January 1885. Mahdist State, Sudanese Mahdist forces captured the city of Khartoum, Sudan, from its Khedivate of Egypt, Egypti ...
in 1885. He was appointed Khartoum's military governor after it came under Anglo-Egyptian control. In 1899 Kitchener was appointed to the staff of Sir
Redvers Buller General Sir Redvers Henry Buller, (7 December 1839 – 2 June 1908) was a British Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He served as Commander-in-Chief ...
in South Africa and took part in attempts to relieve Ladysmith during 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 ...
. He was expected to be given an important post in South Africa but was passed over by his brother because Lord Kitchener (Commander-in-Chief of the troops in South Africa) did not want to be accused of favouritism. During the latter part of the war, he commanded troops in Western Transvaal, and following the announcement of peace on 31 May 1902, he supervised the surrender of arms in that area. He left
Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
on board the SS ''Dunvegan Castle'' in late June 1902, and arrived at
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
the next month. For his service in South Africa he ,was awarded the
Queen's South Africa Medal The Queen's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to British and Colonial military personnel, and to civilians employed in an official capacity, who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa. Altogether twenty-six clasps wer ...
with five clasps and the
King's South Africa Medal The King's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to all British and Colonial military personnel who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa, and who were in the theatre on or after 1 January 1902 and who had completed 18 m ...
with two clasps, and was created a Companion of the
Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...
(CB) in the October 1902 South Africa Honours list. In late 1902 he was posted to
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...
, where on 14 November 1902 he took up the command of the
Lahore Division Lahore Division is an administrative division of Punjab Province, Pakistan. It comprises four Districts - Kasur, Lahore, Nankana Sahib and Sheikhupura. The Lahore Division is commanded by a Commissioner to manage the division. Under the Commissio ...
(Mecan Meer District). He was promoted to lieutenant general in October 1906. He was appointed
Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
and military Commander-in-Chief of
Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...
, a strategic
Imperial fortress Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, Lord Salisbury described Malta, Gibraltar, Bermuda, and Halifax as Imperial fortresses at the 1887 Colonial Conference, though by that point they had been so designated for decades. Later histor ...
colony (now described as a
British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or alternatively referred to as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are the fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, ...
) in the North
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with a disproportionately large
garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...
, effective 31 October 1908, serving until his death in
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...
following complications from an operation for
appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...
. He was buried at Prospect Camp.


Family

Kitchener married Caroline Louisa Fenton, daughter of Major Charles Hamilton Fenton, on 27 November 1884 and had five children, including Major Henry Hamilton "Hal" Kitchener, a First World War aviator who returned to Bermuda after the war and ran an aviation company on Hinson's Island, previously part of the prisoner-of-war camp from which Fritz Joubert Duquesne, his uncle's alleged assassin, had escaped during the Second Boer War.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitchener, Frederick Walter 1858 births 1912 deaths British Army lieutenant generals West Yorkshire Regiment officers Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army personnel of the Mahdist War British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Afghan War Governors of Bermuda