Lieutenant-General Sir George Sidney Clive, (16 July 1874 – 7 October 1959) was a

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 ...

officer who subsequently became Military Secretary.

Background and education

Clive was the son of

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Edward Clive and Isabel Webb and he was educated at Harrow School and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infant ...

Military career

Clive was commissioned into the

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

in 1893,Sir George Sidney Clive
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives and promoted to

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 26 October 1897. He took part in the military expedition to the Sudan in 1898, and was promoted to captain on 28 January 1900, during a temporary appointment as Adjutant of the 3rd battalion (19 January – 24 March 1900). He fought in the

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

between 1900 and 1902; he was part of a detachment sent to South Africa in March 1900 to reinforce the 3rd battalion. For his service in the war he was 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 ...

(DSO). He attended Staff College, Camberley in 1903 and became a General Staff Officer at the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

in 1905. He served in 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 ...

as Head of the British Mission at the French Army headquarters from 1915 to the end of the War and was invested as a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

. Clive also received several decorations from France, Belgium and Russia. After the War, in 1919, Clive was appointed Military Governor of

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

and from 1919 to 1920, he was Commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade at

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...

(as a temporary Brigadier). He was appointed British Military Representative to the Armaments Commission of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

in 1921 and became Military attaché in

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in 1924, rising to Major-General in the same year. He was appointed Director of Personal Services at the War Office in 1928 and Military Secretary in 1930. He was invested as a Knight Commander of the

(KCB) in 1933. Clive retired from the army in 1934, as a Lieutenant General, and served as Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps between 1934 and 1946 and as

High Sheriff of Herefordshire This is a list of Sheriffs and, since 1998, High Sheriffs of Herefordshire The position of Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in each county, but over the centurie ...

in 1939. He was invested as a Knight Grand Cross of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

(GCVO) in 1937. Clive was a Justice of the Peace and the Deputy Lieutenant of

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthsh ...

. He died on 7 October 1959 in a disastrous fire at the family home, Perrystone Court, near

Ross-on-Wye Ross-on-Wye ( Welsh: ''Rhosan ar Wy'') is a market town in England, near the border with Wales. It had a population of 10,582 according to the 2011 census, estimated at 11,309 in 2019. It lies in south-eastern Herefordshire, on the River Wye ...

.When flames ravaged the Court
Hereford Times, 24 June 2006

Family

On 26 March 1901 Clive married Madeline Buxton and the couple had three sons (including

Archer Clive Brigadier Archer Francis Lawrence Clive, DSO and bar, MC KStJ (24 June 1903, in London – March 1995, in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire) was a British Army officer who served during World War II. Family Clive was the son of Lieutenant-General Sir ...

, who fought with distinction in World War II) and two daughters.

Awards and decorations

* Knight Grand Cross of the

(1937) * Knight Commander,

(1933) * Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (1919) *

* Croix de Guerre (France) * Grand Officer of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

(France) * Commander of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) * Croix de Guerre (Belgium) *

Order of St. Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus ( pl, Order Św. Stanisława Biskupa Męczennika, russian: Орден Святого Станислава), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Ponia ...

with swords (

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)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clive, George 1874 births 1959 deaths People educated at Harrow School Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley British Army lieutenant generals Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium) Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Commanders of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Marshals of the Diplomatic Corps British Army personnel of World War I British Army personnel of the Mahdist War British Army personnel of the Second Boer War High Sheriffs of Herefordshire Grenadier Guards officers Deputy Lieutenants of Herefordshire English justices of the peace British military attachés