Major General Sir Gerald Charles Kitson (6 October 1856 – 3 March 1950) 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 who became Commandant of the Royal Military College Sandhurst.

Military career

The youngest son of the Rev James Buller Kitson, Gerald 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 ...

and

Royal Military College Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a British military academy for training infantry and cavalry officers of the British and Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, but moved in October 1812 ...

, Gerald Kitson was commissioned into the

1st Regiment of Foot First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

in 1875 and transferred to the

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United Sta ...

in 1876. After serving as aide-de-camp to the

Viceroy of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the Emperor of ...

from 1879 and then as aide-de-camp to the

General Officer Commanding General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (and some other nations, such as Ireland) to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC ...

Western District from 1884, he was appointed Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General in

Meerut Meerut (, ISO 15919, ISO: ''Mēraṭh'') is a city in the western region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Located in the Meerut district, it is northeast of the national capital, New Delhi, and is ...

in 1890, Assistant Adjutant-General in

Ambala Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab (India), Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala ...

in 1892 and Commandant of the

Royal Military College of Canada The Royal Military College of Canada (), abbreviated in English as RMC and in French as CMR, is a Military academy#Canada, military academy and, since 1959, a List of universities in Canada#Ontario, degree-granting university of the Canadian ...

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

in 1896.Edward Walford
''The county families of the United Kingdom; or, Royal manual of the titled and untitled aristocracy of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland'', p. 206
; accessed 17 May 2016. In Canada he introduced major reforms clearing out the staff and reducing the College programme from four years to three years. and in the New Year Honours on 1 January 1901 he was 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) for his work there. He went on to be military

attaché In diplomacy, an attaché () is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified ac ...

in Washington D. C. in 1900. Two years later he was on 17 September 1902 appointed commandant of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, arriving there after a tumultuous year at the college during which cadets had been expelled and its position as a place of discipline was at stake. He was given command of the

Jubbulpore Brigade The 5th (Mhow) Division was a regular division of the British Indian Army and part of the Southern Army which was formed in 1903 after Lord Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, Kitchener was appointed Commander-in-Chief, India bet ...

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 ...

in 1907, and for which he was made a temporary brigadier general while so employed, and of the Jullundur Brigade in 1908 before becoming Quartermaster-General in India in 1909. He was made a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

in June 1910 and commanded the

2nd (Rawalpindi) Division The 2nd (Rawalpindi) Division was a regular army division of the British Indian Army. It was formed in 1903 after the British Indian Army#Kitchener reforms, Kitchener reforms of the Indian Army. During World War I it remained in British Raj, In ...

from 1912, through the early years of the

Great War 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 ...

, until 1916 and retired in 1918. Kitson lived at Wendlebury House near

Bicester Bicester ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of Oxfordshire, England, north-west of Oxford. The town is a notable tourist attraction due to the Bicester Village shopping centre. The historical town centre � ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

. In 1939 he gave his support to a campaign to stop the abolition of the

kilt A kilt ( ) is a garment resembling a wrap-around knee-length skirt, made of twill-woven worsted wool with heavy pleats at the sides and back and traditionally a tartan pattern. Originating in the Scottish Highland dress for men, it is first r ...

in the British Army.Abolition of the Kilt
Scotsman.com (archives), 15 December 1939.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kitson, Gerald 1856 births 1950 deaths British military attachés Military personnel from Cornwall British Army major generals British Army generals of World War I Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Companions of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst People educated at Winchester College King's Royal Rifle Corps officers Commandants of the Royal Military College of Canada Commandants of Sandhurst 19th-century British Army personnel