Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

Daniel Arthur Sandford, (18 June 1882 – 22 January 1972) was a senior officer in the

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 ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, who served an advisor to Emperor

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...

of Ethiopia.

Early life

Sandford was born in

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...

, Devon, on 18 June 1882, the son of the Venerable Ernest Grey Sandford, Archdeacon of

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

. His great-grandfather was Daniel Sandford and his brother was Lieutenant

Richard Douglas Sandford Richard Douglas Sandford, VC (11 May 1891 – 23 November 1918) was a Royal Navy officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He ...

, a recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

. Sandford was commissioned into the

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Artillery, Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse ...

(RGA) as a second lieutenant on 18 August 1900, and was promoted to

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 ...

on 22 May 1902. He saw imperial service in both

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and the

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

. Significantly, he visited Ethiopia in 1907, and by 1914 was serving at the British Consulate in Addis Adaba.Michie, A. A. (1943). ''Every man to his post''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

First World War

Sandford arrived on the Western Front in France as a captain in February 1915, and by May 1916 had been promoted to the rank of major and was Officer Commanding the

94th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery 94th Siege Battery, was a heavy howitzer unit of the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) formed in North East England during World War I. It saw active service on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front at the Battle of the Somme, Somme, Battle ...

, leading it in action from the

attack on the Gommecourt Salient The Attack on the Gommecourt Salient was a British operation against the northern flank of the German 2nd Army. The attack took place on 1 July 1916, on the Western Front in France, during the First World War. The operation was conducted by th ...

on the

First day on the Somme The first day on the Somme (1 July 1916) was the beginning of the Battle of Albert the name given by the British to the first two weeks of the Battle of the Somme () in the First World War. Nine corps of the French Sixth Army and the Britis ...

(1 July 1916) until he was posted to command the 355th Siege Battery in September 1918. During the 'Great Retreat' caused by the

German spring offensive The German spring offensive, also known as ''Kaiserschlacht'' ("Kaiser's Battle") or the Ludendorff offensive, was a series of German Empire, German attacks along the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during the World War I, First Wor ...

in March 1918, Sandford later wrote that the 94th Siege Battery "not only saved our guns from the forefront of our broken line, but, refusing to understand that 9.2's were not field guns, turned them again and again on the enemy along that never-to-be-forgotten road back to Amiens". Following the war, he resigned his commission and moved to

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

in 1920, where he became an advisor to Ethiopian Emperor

Role in the Ethiopian Revolt of the Second World War

Sandford fled Ethiopia in early 1936 once it became clear that the 1935 Italian invasion of Ethiopia would succeed. Once back in England, Sandford maintained contact with the exiled emperor, who was based in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

. In August 1939, the head of the Middle East Command in Cairo, General Sir Archibald Wavell, summoned Sandford for duty. Wavell made Sandford a colonel and put him in charge of the Ethiopian Section in Middle East intelligence. Sandford immediately began liaising with resistance groups in Ethiopia, and in January 1940 toured the French- and British-held territories bordering Ethiopia to solicit support for a planned Allied-backed Ethiopian revolt against the Italians. The British plan to foster and assist the Ethiopian revolt was called ''Mission 101''. Sandford's tour was relatively successful, and so upon his return to Cairo he selected the team he would use to implement Mission 101 and drew up two plans of action: Scheme A, which dealt with military preparations and the British role, and Scheme B, which focused on the propaganda methods to be used. As soon as Italy declared war on 10 June, Sandford and his team swung into action implementing his plan. Sandford oversaw Mission 101 until the arrival of

Orde Wingate Major-general (United Kingdom), Major General Orde Charles Wingate, (26 February 1903 – 24 March 1944) was a senior British Army officer known for his creation of the Chindits, Chindit deep-penetration missions in Japanese-held territory duri ...

.Sheriff (2009), Chapter 2. Later in the war and in its immediate aftermath, Sandford served again as advisor to Emperor Selassie, both in military and political roles.

Post-war years and death

Sandford held various posts in the Ethiopian government, retiring as Director General of the Addis Ababa Municipality in 1951.Shinn, D. H., Ofcansky, T. P. (2004). ''Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia''. 361 pages. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Meanwhile, his wife, Christine, (née Lush, d. 1975) established the Sandford Community School in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

. The school still exists and is considered to be one of the best International Schools in Ethiopia. After his retirement, Sandford devoted all his energies to farming the plot of land leased to him by Haile Selassie at

Mulo Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs (Dutch, "more advanced primary education") was during part of the twentieth century a level of education in the Netherlands, Suriname and the Dutch East Indies. The system was comparable with the junior high school l ...

(sometimes spelled Mulu, but not to be confused with Mulu in Sitti Zone) near the town Derba, 60 km north of Addis Ababa, planting among others, coffee and plum trees, and building stables for cattle. Sandford died at the farm on 22 January 1972. After Selassie was overthrown by the

Derg The Derg or Dergue (, ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when they formally "Civil government, civilianized" the ...

regime in 1974, the farm was nationalized, and more stables were built to increase the number of cattle. Within a few years however, the farm had ceased to be operational. Today, the farm plot is leased by a Dutch horticulture farm. The summerhouse built by Sandford is being renovated to its original state. Some parts of the construction had to be replaced but efforts are being made to keep the original material in place. The walls still contain the original cedar wood.

References

Bibliography

* *
Profile
* Maj Charles E. Berkeley Lowe, ''Siege Battery 94 During the World War 1914–1918'', London: T. Werner Laurie, 1919/Uckfield, Naval & Military Press, 2004, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Sandford, Daniel 1882 births 1972 deaths British Army personnel of World War I British Army brigadiers of World War II British emigrants to Ethiopia Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst People educated at St Paul's School, London Military personnel from Barnstaple Royal Garrison Artillery officers

Daniel Daniel commonly refers to: * Daniel (given name), a masculine given name and a surname * List of people named Daniel * List of people with surname Daniel * Daniel (biblical figure) * Book of Daniel, a biblical apocalypse, "an account of the acti ...

19th-century British Army personnel