Brigadier-General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Frederick Gordon Spring, (25 July 1878 – 24 September 1963) was a senior

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 Gur ...

officer.

Early life

Spring was born in 1878 in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the '' de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the sec ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

, the son of Colonel Frederick William Spring, a

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

officer. He was educated at

Blundell's School Blundell's School is a co-educational day and boarding independent school in the English public school tradition, located in Tiverton, Devon. It was founded in 1604 under the will of Peter Blundell, one of the richest men in England at the t ...

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 infantry ...

.The VC and DSO, Volume III http://lib.militaryarchive.co.uk/library/Biographical/library/The-VC-and-DSO-Volume-III/files/assets/basic-html/page350.html

Military career

Spring was commissioned into the

Royal Lincolnshire Regiment The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army raised on 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Bath's Regiment for its first Colonel, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath. In 1751, it was numbered like most other Army regiments ...

as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 1 ...

on 7 May 1898, 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 3 January 1900. He served with the regiment in South Africa during 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 ...

, from June 1900 he took part in operations in Transvaal. He was again seconded for service in South Africa in April 1902, when he commanded a mounted infantry contingent. The war ended two months later, and Spring left Cape Town in the SS ''Dunera'' in late September 1902, arriving at Southampton early the following month. Spring was adjutant of the 2nd Battalion of his regiment between 1904 and 1907, and was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in 1905. He retired from the army as a major in 1907, but was recalled to service at the outbreak of 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 fig ...

World War 1

He initially served as an Embarkation Officer, but was soon posted to the Staff of the 33rd (Infantry) Brigade as its Signals Officer. He was deployed to Gallipoli with the brigade in 1915, and was involved in the successful capture of "Chocolate Hill" by the 6th (Service) Battalion of the

Lincolnshire Regiment The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army raised on 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Bath's Regiment for its first Colonel, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath. In 1751, it was numbered like most other Army regiment ...

from

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

forces during the

Battle of Sari Bair The Battle of Sari Bair ( tr, Sarı Bayır Harekâtı), also known as the August Offensive (), represented the final attempt made by the British in August 1915 to seize control of the Gallipoli peninsula from the Ottoman Empire during the F ...

. However, the battalion suffered heavy losses and Spring was injured in the action. Upon recovery he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in June 1916, and took command of the 11th (Service) Battalion of the

Essex Regiment The Essex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958. The regiment served in many conflicts such as the Second Boer War and both World War I and World War II, serving with distinction in all three. ...

, which at the time was engaged on the Western Front with the

6th Infantry Division 6th Division may refer to: Infantry divisions *6th Division (Australia) *6th Division (Austria) * 6th (United Kingdom) Division *Finnish 6th Division (Winter War) * Finnish 6th Division (Continuation War) *6th Division (Reichswehr) * 6th Division ...

. Whilst in this position Spring presided over a Divisional

court martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of me ...

that sentenced Pte. Harry Farr of the 1st Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment to death for cowardice. Spring commanded the 11th (S) Battalion Essex Regiment during the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

, and at the Battle of Cambrai. He was promoted to colonel in 1918. In September 1918 he returned to the 33rd Brigade as its brigadier-general. He was

Mentioned in Dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) 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 ...

five times over the course of the war. He was also awarded the

Croix de guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

by the French government.

Post-war military career

Following the end of World War 1, Spring was appointed Senior Instructor at the Senior Officers' School, Belgaum, India from January 1921 to September 1922. Returning to England, Spring continued to serve with the Lincolnshire Regiment, commanding the 1st Battalion between 1923 and 1927. In this capacity he was in charge of the battalion during its deployment to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

from 1923 to 1924 in support of the

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Roy ...

. Between 1927 and 1931, Spring was Assistant Quartermaster General of Southern Command in England. He was subsequently the commander of the Poona (Independent) Brigade Area, Southern Command, India until his retirement in 1935. From 1935 to 1939, he served as Inspector of Recruiting."Brig.-Gen. F. G. Spring." Times ondon, England26 September 1963: 18. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 27 December 2013. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he worked on the

Imperial General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) has been the title of the professional head of the British Army since 1964. The CGS is a member of both the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Army Board. Prior to 1964, the title was Chief of the Imperial G ...

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 (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence (MoD ...

. He was also a Justice of the Peace.

Death

Spring died in 1963 in

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 Alde ...

, Hampshire. There is a memorial in

Lincoln Cathedral Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln Minster, or the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln and sometimes St Mary's Cathedral, in Lincoln, England, is a Grade I listed cathedral and is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Lincoln. Constructio ...

to his memory.

Personal life

He married Violet Maud Turnbull, the granddaughter of Colonel Henry Law Maydwell, in late 1919. In 1933 Spring's nine-year-old son, John Gordon Spring, died after an accident while being shown around the Royal Navy battleship

HMS Hood HMS ''Hood'' (pennant number 51) was a battlecruiser of the Royal Navy (RN). ''Hood'' was the first of the planned four s to be built during the First World War. Already under construction when the Battle of Jutland occurred in mid-1916, that b ...

at Portsmouth. He accidentally fell 60 ft down an open hatch and died of injuries sustained the next day."News in Brief." Times ondon, England4 August 1933: 12. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 27 December 2013.

Publications

*''The History of the 6th (Service) Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment 1914 – 1919'' (Written in the 1920s – first published in 2009 by Poacher Books)

References

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Spring, Frederick 1878 births 1963 deaths British Army brigadiers Royal Lincolnshire Regiment officers Essex Regiment officers

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode * Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederi ...

British Army generals of World War I Companions of the Order of the Bath Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) People educated at Blundell's School Military personnel of British India British Army generals of World War II