Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

The Honourable Arthur Melland Asquith, (24 April 1883 – 25 August 1939) was a senior officer of the Royal Naval Division, a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

land detachment attached to the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. His father, H. H. Asquith was the British

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

during the first three years of the conflict and later became the

Earl of Oxford and Asquith Earl of Oxford and Asquith is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1925 for the Liberal politician H. H. Asquith. He was Home Secretary from 1892 to 1895, Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1905 to 1908, Leader of ...

. Arthur Asquith was wounded four times in the war and three times awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...

for his bravery under fire. In December 1917, Asquith was seriously wounded during fighting near Beaucamp and was evacuated to Britain where one of his legs was amputated. Asquith retired from the military following his wound and worked for the

Ministry of Munitions The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort. The position was created in response to the Shell Crisis o ...

Early life

Arthur Asquith was born in 1883, the third son of politician H. H. Asquith and his wife Helen Melland, who died when Arthur was seven in 1891. Asquith was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

with his brothers and later attended New College, Oxford as an undergraduate. After completing his studies, he joined the trading firm Franklin & Herrera, with whom he did extensive business in Argentina.Hon. Arthur Melland Asquith
''Centre for First World War Studies'', John Bourne,

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

, Retrieved 3 July 2008

Military career

When the

broke out in the summer of 1914, Asquith resigned from Franklin & Herrera and joined the

, explaining that he could not "sit quietly by reading the papers" during the conflict. His elder brothers also joined up,

Raymond Asquith Raymond Herbert Asquith (6 November 1878 – 15 September 1916) was an English barrister and eldest son of British prime minister H. H. Asquith. A distinguished Oxford scholar, he was a member of the fashionable group of intellectuals known as ...

was commissioned in the London Regiment and was killed in action in 1916 while Herbert Asquith joined the

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 ...

. As the Royal Navy had too many recruits in the early months of the war, they formed a separate division to deploy on land known as the Royal Naval Division. This force was rapidly deployed to Belgium with Asquith as a junior officer.P.109, ''Bloody Red Tabs'', Davies & Maddocks The Royal Naval Division suffered heavy casualties in the Siege of Antwerp, and was withdrawn shortly before the city fell, but in 1915 it was redeployed to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

for use in the Gallipoli campaign. Shortly after arrival, Asquith's friend and colleague Rupert Brooke died from an infected mosquito bite. During the Gallipoli Campaign, he was awarded the

(DSO) for his actions but was also wounded, resulting in his withdrawal to staff work.P.110, ''Bloody Red Tabs'', Davies & Maddocks In 1916, The Royal Naval Division, now designated the 63rd Division, was sent to the Western Front. Asquith remained as a staff officer until April 1917, when heavy casualties forced him to replace Bernard Freyberg in command of the 189th Brigade. At the head of this formation, he participated in heavy fighting throughout the year, earning two Bars to his DSO and being wounded twice more. On 17 December 1917, Asquith was badly wounded forcing his evacuation to Britain. Despite extensive surgery, his leg was amputated in January 1918, forcing his retirement from the military with the rank of brigadier general. He then served the remainder of the war with the

, in the Controller of the Trench Warfare Department. Asquith retired from the Navy following the end of the war to his home

Clovelly Court Clovelly Court is a privately owned country house in Clovelly, Devon. The house and adjacent stable block are Grade II listed buildings. The gardens and parts of the estate are open to the public. History The manor of Clovelly was for over 600 y ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

Personal life

On 30 April 1918, four months after his injury and leg amputation, Asquith married Betty Constance Manners, sister of Francis Manners, 4th Baron Manners, a

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

officer then serving as his aide-de-camp. They had four daughters.

Later life

Following the end of the war, Asquith chaired the committee which established the Royal Naval Division War Memorial outside the Admiralty building in London. In the Directory of Directors for 1935, the Hon Arthur M Asquith of 1 London Wall Buildings EC2 is listed as chairman of Brazil Plantations Syndicate Ltd, chairman of Parana Plantations Ltd and a director of San Paulo (Brazilian) Railway Co Ltd.Directory of Directors 1935
/ref> Asquith came across many risk factors throughout his military career and eventually died of Hodgkin Lymphoma at Clovelly Court, Devon on 25 August 1939.
''peerage.com'', Daryl Lundy, Retrieved 3 July 2008

Notes

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Asquith, Arthur 1883 births 1939 deaths Alumni of New College, Oxford Asquith family Children of prime ministers of the United Kingdom Companions of the Distinguished Service Order People educated at Winchester College Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Royal Navy officers Royal Navy officers of World War I Younger sons of earls