Brigadier-General Alfred James Whitacre Allen (7 November 1857 – 1939) was a

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 ...

officer.

Military career

Born to Major John Whitacre Allen and Eliza Whiteside, he was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

. He was commissioned into the

3rd Regiment of Foot Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...

on 12 February 1876. He served in the

Anglo-Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in present-day South Africa from January to early July 1879 between forces of the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Two famous battles of the war were the Zulu victory at Battle of Isandlwana, Isandlwana and th ...

in 1879. Promoted to captain in 1885, he served as

Staff Captain Staff captain is the English translation of a number of military ranks: Historical use of the rank Czechoslovakia In the Czechoslovak Army, until 1953, staff captain (, ) was a senior captain rank, ranking between captain and major. Estonia T ...

in the

Nile Expedition The Nile Expedition, sometimes called the Gordon Relief Expedition (1884–1885), was a British mission to relieve Major-General Charles George Gordon at Khartoum, Sudan. Gordon had been sent to Sudan to help the Egyptians withdraw their garr ...

(1884-1885), passed staff college in 1886 and served as Aide-de-camp to Major-General, Bengal, 1888-1890; Station Staff Officer, 1st Class, 1890-1892; Deputy Assistant Quarter Master General - Intelligence,

Army Headquarters, India General Headquarters, India was the headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief, India, who commanded the British military forces in India, including the British Indian Army, after the Kitchener Reforms of 1903. It succeeded Headquarters, India which ...

, 1892-1895. Promoted to major in 1895, he served in the

Mohmand campaign of 1897–1898 The First Mohmand campaign was a British military campaign against the Pashtun Mohmand tribe from 1897 to 1898. Background The Mohmand are a Pashtun tribe who inhabit the hilly country to the north-west of Peshawar, in the North-West Frontier Pro ...

, where he was Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quarter Master General on the Tirah campaign and thereafter was the Station Staff Officer, 1st Class,

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, 1898-1899; Deputy Assistant-Adjutant-General Punjab, 1899-1900. Promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1901, he was breveted Colonel in 1904 and promoted to the substantive rank of Colonel in 1908; having served as Assistant-Adjutant-General, 1900-1903; Commandant Deolali Depot, 1903-1905; officiating Assistant-Quartermaster-General Western Command, Poona, 1905-1906. From 1909 to 1913, he served Officer Commanding the British Troops in Ceylon with the rank of Brigadier-General and retired on 21 June 1913 in the honorary rank of Brigadier-General. He was recalled in September 1914 as Brigade Commander, 74th Brigade, 25th Division as part of the new army and served till February 1916 when he was relieved before seeing action. For his services he was appointed a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...

in the

1908 Birthday Honours The 1908 Birthday Honours for the British Empire were announced on 28 June, to celebrate the birthday of Edward VII. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and arranged by honour, with classes (K ...

, and awarded the Zulu War Medal with clasp,

Egypt Medal The Egypt Medal (1882–1889) was awarded for the military actions involving the British Army and Royal Navy during the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War and in the Mahdist War, Sudan between 1884 and 1889. Resentment at increasing British and other Eur ...

with clasp,

Khedive's Star The Khedive's Star was a campaign medal established by Khedive Tewfik Pasha to reward those who had participated in the military campaigns in Egypt and the Sudan between 1882 and 1891. This included British Army, British forces who served during t ...

India Medal The India Medal was a campaign medal approved in 1896 for issue to officers and men of the British and Indian armies. The India Medal was awarded for various minor military campaigns in India, chiefly for service on the North-West Frontier duri ...

with two clasps and

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

. In 1889 he married Mary Emily, daughter of Lieutenant-General Sir John Hudson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitacre Allen, Alfred James 1857 births 1939 deaths Companions of the Order of the Bath Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) officers British Army personnel of the Anglo-Zulu War British Army personnel of the Anglo-Egyptian War British Army generals of World War I Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley General Officers Commanding, Ceylon Official members of the Legislative Council of Ceylon People educated at Winchester College British people in colonial India