Lieutenant-General Sir Fenton John Aylmer, 13th Baronet (5 April 1862 – 3 September 1935) was an Anglo-Irish recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

. He was in command of the first failed efforts to break the

siege of Kut The siege of Kut Al Amara (7 December 1915 – 29 April 1916), also known as the first battle of Kut, was the besieging of an 8,000 strong British Army garrison in the town of Kut, south of Baghdad, by the Ottoman Army. In 1915, its population ...

in 1916. From a military background, Aylmer was commissioned into the Indian Army, and immediately involved in fierce fighting on the north-west frontier. In a singularly heroic action, still in his twenties, he helped rescue Townshend's garrison at Chitral, spearheading the relief column. For his valorous conduct he was awarded the Victoria Cross, and rapid promotion through the officer class.

Early career

Born the son of Captain Fenton John Aylmer and Isabella Eleanor Darling. Aylmer attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, as a Gentleman Cadet and was promoted

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

on 27 July 1880. He took part in the Burma expedition between 1886 and 1887.

The Victoria Cross

Fenton was 29 years old, and a captain in the

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

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 ...

and Bengal Sappers & Miners ( British Indian Army),The Royal Engineers Museum - Victoria Crosses held by the Royal Engineers Museum
/ref> during the

Hunza–Nagar Campaign __NOTOC__ The Hunza–Nagar Campaign was fought in 1891 by troops of the British Raj against the princely states of Hunza (princely state), Hunza and Nagar (princely state), Nagar in the Gilgit Agency (now part of the Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan ...

, India when he won the

in 1891 for the following deed: He was promoted Major on 18 October 1893 in recognition of his services during the Hunza-Nagar Expedition, and was part of the

Chitral Expedition The Chitral Expedition (Urdu:چترال فوجی مہم) was a military expedition in 1895 sent by the British authorities to relieve the fort at Chitral, which was under siege after a local coup following the death of the old ruler. An interv ...

in 1895. Further service with the Royal Engineers saw him promoted a brevet

Lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

. In July 1901 he was appointed Assistant Quartermaster general in India, and promoted to the substantive rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

. Ten years later, in March 1912, having been promoted to

major-general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

, he became Adjutant-General, India. In 1913 he married Lady Risley, the widow of Sir Herbert Hope Risley, head of the Indian Civil Service. She was born Elsie Julie Oppermann, daughter of Friedrich Oppermann.

First World War

Having been promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) 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 ...

on 11 June 1915, Aylmer was sent to Mesopotamia to take over command of the 7th (Meerut) Division. However, shortly after his arrival, he was put in charge of the

Tigris Corps The III Corps is a formation of the Indian Army that was formed during World War I in Mesopotamia during its respective campaign. Prior to the reorganization of the British and Indian forces in Mesopotamia, it was designated as the Tigris Corps. ...

that was assembled as the first effort to end the

. Tigris Corps comprised the Meerut Division, the 12th Indian Division, and a number of other smaller military units. All told he had more than 20,000 men. They left

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...

in late December 1915 and arrived at Sheikh Sa'ad on 3 January 1916.Tucker, p. 1,233 While the 12th Indian Division (under command of General

George Gorringe Lieutenant General Sir George Frederick Gorringe, (10 February 1868 – 24 October 1945) served as an active field commander in the British Army during the Anglo-Boer War and the First World War, on the Palestine and Western Fronts. Earl ...

) made a diversionary move near Nasiriyeh, the 7th (under the command of General Younghusband) staged a direct assault on the Ottoman positions on 6 January (the Battle of Sheikh Sa'ad). After two days of fighting, the Ottoman army withdrew. The British sustained approximately 4,000 casualties - much more than the medical units could cope with. The Ottoman troops, under the generalship of Baron von der Goltz only withdrew some six miles up river and occupied another defensive position near the edge of the Suwaikiya Marshes. A British assault on this position on 13 January was partially successful, the position was carried but again with significant losses (some 1,600 casualties) (the Battle of Wadi). By now, a third division had been added to Aylmer's Tigris Corps, the

3rd (Lahore) Division The 3rd (Lahore) Division was an infantry division of the British Indian Army, first organised in 1852. It saw service during World War I as part of the Indian Corps in France before being moved to the Middle East where it fought against troops ...

. This new division, along with the weakened 7th Division, attacked Ottoman defensive works at Hanna on 21 January (the

Battle of Hanna The First Battle of Hanna ( Turkish: ''Felahiye Muharebesi'') was a World War I battle fought on the Mesopotamian front on 21 January 1916 between Ottoman Army and Anglo-Indian forces. Prelude After the Ottoman Empire's entry into the First World ...

). This assault was a complete failure. The Ottoman troops held their trench lines while some 2,700 British soldiers were killed or wounded. General Aylmer was reinforced with another division, the

13th (Western) Division The 13th (Western) Division was one of the Kitchener's Army divisions in the First World War, raised from volunteers by Lord Kitchener. It fought at Gallipoli, in Mesopotamia (including the capture of Baghdad) and Persia. War service 1914� ...

. The next month was spent resting the troops and probing the Ottoman defensive positions. With time running out on Major-General Townshend's garrison in

Kut Kūt ( ar, ٱلْكُوت, al-Kūt), officially Al-Kut, also spelled Kutulamare or Kut al-Imara, is a city in eastern Iraq, on the left bank of the Tigris River, about south east of Baghdad. the estimated population is about 389,400 people. It ...

, Aylmer finally launched a two pronged attack on the Ottoman positions, one attack at the Sinn Abtar Redoubt, the other attack at the Dujaila Redoubt. The attacks were launched on 7 March 1916. Both attacks failed due to lack of initiative and an inability to coordinate the timing of the assaults: they ended up being sequential, not simultaneous as was intended. The British lost some 4,000 casualties. Fenton Aylmer was replaced by the former commander of the 12th Indian division, Major-General Gorringe. He did not command in battle again, but served as a divisional commander in India from 1915 to 1917 before retiring from the British Army in 1919. From 1922 till his death he was a Colonel Commandant of the Royal Engineers. Sir Fenton John Aylmer - Golders Green Crematorium

Sir Fenton John Aylmer - Golders Green Crematorium

Following his death in 1935 he was cremated at the

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...

, where his ashes remain. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Royal Engineers Museum in Chatham, Kent, England.

References

Sources

* *

Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross List of Irish Victoria Cross recipients lists all recipients of the Victoria Cross (post-nominal letters "VC") born on the island of Ireland, together with the date and place of their VC action. The Victoria Cross is the highest war honour of ...

(Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000) *

Monuments to Courage David Charles Harvey (29 July 1946 – 4 March 2004) was a historian and author. He is notable for his seminal work, ''Monuments To Courage'', which documents the graves of almost all recipients of the Victoria Cross, a task that took him over 3 ...

(David Harvey, 1999) *

The Register of the Victoria Cross ''The Register of the Victoria Cross'' is a reference work that provides brief information on every Victoria Cross awarded until the publication date. Each entry provides a summary of the deed, along with a photograph of the recipient and the fo ...

(This England, 1997) *

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

(Gerald Napier, 1998)

External links

Royal Engineers Museum
Sappers VCs

"Golders Green Crematorium, London"

"Royal Engineers Museum, Gillingham"

- from The Long, Long March website, downloaded January, 2006. , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Aylmer, Fenton 1862 births 1935 deaths 19th-century Anglo-Irish people 20th-century Anglo-Irish people Baronets in the Baronetage of Ireland People from Hastings British recipients of the Victoria Cross British Army generals of World War I British military personnel of the Chitral Expedition Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Royal Engineers officers Bengal Sappers and Miners personnel British military personnel of the Hunza-Naga Campaign British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross Golders Green Crematorium British Army lieutenant generals Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Military personnel from Sussex