Major General Sir Arthur Lynden Lynden-Bell, (2 January 1867 – 14 February 1943) 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.

Early life

Lynden-Bell was the son of Major-General Thomas Lynden Lynden-Bell and younger brother of Colonel Charles Perceval Lynden-Bell. He was educated at

Clifton College Clifton College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the city of Bristol in South West England, founded in 1862 and offering both boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18. In its early years, unlike mo ...

."Clifton College Register" Muirhead, J.A.O. p88: Bristol; J.W Arrowsmith for Old Cliftonian Society; April, 1948

Military career

He attended the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

and commissioned as a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

into the

Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), formerly the 3rd Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army traditionally raised in the English county of Kent and garrisoned at Canterbury. It had a history dating back to 1572 and ...

in May 1885. After promotion 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 31 January 1894, he served the following year on the North West Frontier of

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 ...

and attended the

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which ...

in 1898. A year later, he saw active service in 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 ...

, commanding a mounted infantry contingent of the Buffs. He was wounded, and returned home on the SS ''Greek'' in March 1900. In May 1900, he became a Staff Captain for intelligence in the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

, and the following year he was made Deputy-Assistant Quartermaster-General for intelligence at the War Office on 20 July 1901. He was promoted 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 3 May 1902, and appointed a Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

(CMG) in 1905. In January 1907 he succeeded

Hugh Bruce Williams Major General Sir Hugh Bruce Williams, (1865–1942) was a British Army officer. Military career Hugh Bruce Williams was born in 1865, the son of a general in the British Army. He was educated at Winchester College, followed by the Royal Milita ...

as a deputy assistant adjutant general.half-pay. Later that year, Lynden-Bell became a general staff officer, grade 2 of Southern Command (United Kingdom), Southern Command. In July 1908 he was appointed as a lieutenant colonel. He relinquished this assignment in April 1911 and was then placed on

half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the E ...

. This lasted until October when, reverting to normal pay, he became a general staff officer, grade 2 of the Lowland Division (later the

52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division The 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was originally formed as the Lowland Division, in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force. It later became the 52nd (Lowland) Division in 1915. The 52nd (Lowlan ...

). He was promoted to colonel while serving in this position, dated to March 1912. At the start of the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Lynden-Bell was, in February 1915, promoted to temporary brigadier general and succeeded Major General

George Milne Field Marshal George Francis Milne, 1st Baron Milne, (5 November 1866 – 23 March 1948) was a senior British Army officer who served as Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS) from 1926 to 1933. He served in the Second Boer War and during ...

as brigadier general, general staff of

III Corps III or iii may refer to: Companies * Information International, Inc., a computer technology company * Innovative Interfaces, Inc., a library-software company * 3i, formerly Investors in Industry, a British investment company Other uses * I ...

. In July he was promoted again, now to temporary major general, and became major general, general staff of the newly created Third Army. He was later the assistant quartermaster general of the British Expeditionary Force. In 1915 he served as Chief of General Staff of the Mediterranean and Egypt Expeditionary Force, and saw service in the Gallipoli campaign, being

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 1916-1917 he was the Chief-of-Staff of the

Egyptian Expeditionary Force The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) was a military formation of the British Empire, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and the Force in Egypt (1914–1915), at the ...

under General Sir

Archibald Murray General Sir Archibald James Murray, (23 April 1860 – 21 January 1945) was a British Army officer who served in the Second Boer War and the First World War. He was chief of staff to the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in August 1914 but ap ...

, but was removed from the post and returned home in mid-1917 soon after the arrival of

Edmund Allenby Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, (23 April 1861 – 14 May 1936) was a senior British Army Officer (armed forces), officer and imperial governor. He fought in the Second Boer ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

to replace Murray. Lynden-Bell was appointed a Commander of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

in 1917. In 1918 he was Director of Staff Duties at the War Office. He retired from the regular army in 1924, and in 1928 became Colonel of the Buffs, serving in the position until 1 January 1937.

Later years

In retirement, he served as a Deputy Lieutenant and as a Justice of the Peace and was a "very keen supporter" of

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ken ...

, always attending

Canterbury Cricket Week Canterbury Cricket Week is the oldest cricket festival week in England and involves a series of consecutive Kent home matches, traditionally held in the first week in August. It was founded in 1842, although a similar festival week was first he ...

in the Buff's tent at the

St Lawrence Ground The St Lawrence Ground is a cricket ground in Canterbury, Kent. It is the home ground of Kent County Cricket Club and since 2013 has been known as The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, due to commercial sponsorship. It is one of the oldest grounds o ...

.Lynden-Bell, Major-General Sir Arthur, KCB, KCMG
Obituaries in 1943, ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'', 1944. Retrieved 5 April 2018.

Death

Lynden-Bell died at Platt near

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

in 1943, aged 76.

Personal life

He married the Hon. Bertha Marion Akers-Douglas, daughter of

Aretas Akers-Douglas, 1st Viscount Chilston Aretas Akers-Douglas, 1st Viscount Chilston (born Aretas Akers; 21 October 1851 – 15 January 1926) was a British Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 until he was raised to the peerage in 1911. He notably served a ...

and Adeline Mary Austen-Smith, on 2 June 1905.

Cultural references

He appears in the war memoir ''

Seven Pillars of Wisdom ''Seven Pillars of Wisdom'' is the autobiographical account of the experiences of British Army Colonel T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") while serving as a military advisor to Bedouin forces during the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empi ...

'' by

T. E. Lawrence Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British Army officer, archaeologist, diplomat and writer known for his role during the Arab Revolt and Sinai and Palestine campaign against the Ottoman Empire in the First W ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lynden-Bell, Arthur 1867 births 1943 deaths Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Commanders of the Legion of Honour Deputy lieutenants of Kent English justices of the peace People educated at Clifton College Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) officers British Army major generals British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army generals of World War I Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Military personnel from Carlisle, Cumbria Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Foreign recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (United States) People of the Gallipoli campaign