Major-General Sir Henry West Hodgson (29 June 1868 – 5 February 1930) was an officer of 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 ...

. He was the Regimental Colonel of the

14th King's Hussars The 14th King's Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1715. It saw service for two centuries, including the First World War, before being amalgamated with the 20th Hussars to form the 14th/20th King's Hussars in 19 ...

and the

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of the

15th (The King's) Hussars The 15th The King's Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army. First raised in 1759, it saw service over two centuries, including the First World War, before being amalgamated with the 19th Royal Hussars into the 15th/19th The King's Roy ...

. He also commanded the

Australian Mounted Division The Australian Mounted Division originally formed as the Imperial Mounted Division in January 1917, was a mounted infantry, light horse and yeomanry division. The division was formed in Egypt, and along with the Anzac Mounted Division formed p ...

during the

Sinai and Palestine Campaign The Sinai and Palestine campaign was part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I, taking place between January 1915 and October 1918. The British Empire, the French Third Republic, and the Kingdom of Italy fought alongside the Arab Revol ...

of the

First World 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 ...

Early life

Henry West Hodgson was born 29 June 1868 the second son of Barnard Beckett Hodgson. His elder brother Barnard Thornton Hodgson was a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

, Justice of the Peace and became a lieutenant-colonel 4th Battalion,

Royal Sussex Regiment The Royal Sussex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1966. The regiment was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foo ...

Military career

Hodgson joined the

a cavalry regiment of the

in 1889. He was promoted to lieutenant in March 1891, captain in 1895 and became

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

of his regiment in December 1893. He was next promoted to major on 29 November 1899, and later, after being promoted to lieutenant colonel, succeeded Colonel

William Peyton General Sir William Eliot Peyton, (7 May 1866 – 14 November 1931) was a British Army officer who served as Military Secretary to the British Expeditionary Force from 1916 to 1918. He was Delhi Herald of Arms Extraordinary at the time of t ...

as the

of the 15th Hussars in October 1907. He was appointed to the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

on 5 November 1910. Following his service as CO Hodgson was placed on the

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 ...

list on 10 October 1911 and made a colonel with effect from the same date. In April 1912 he took command of a mounted brigade of the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry in ...

First World War

By the time the First World War began in August 1914 Hodgson, made a temporary brigadier general on 5 August, was in command of the

Eastern Mounted Brigade The Eastern Mounted Brigade was a formation of the Territorial Force of the British Army, organised in 1908. After serving dismounted in the Gallipoli Campaign, it was absorbed into the 3rd Dismounted Brigade in Egypt in February 1916. Format ...

and deployed with them to serve in the Gallipoli campaign, where following losses it was amalgamated into the

3rd Dismounted Brigade D3, D03, D.III, D III or D-3 may refer to: Transportation Roads * London Buses route D3, a Transport for London contracted bus route * D3 motorway (Czech Republic), a motorway in the Czech Republic * D3 road (Croatia), a state road in Croatia * D3 ...

, on 22 February 1916, along with the remnants of the

South Eastern Mounted Brigade The South Eastern Mounted Brigade was a formation of the Territorial Force of the British Army, organised in 1908. After service in the Gallipoli Campaign, it was absorbed into the 3rd Dismounted Brigade in Egypt in February 1916. Formation ...

. this new brigade was still commanded by Hodgson, who was allowed to keep his temporary brigadier's rank. Following the Allied withdrawal he went to Egypt and fought with the

Western Frontier Force The Western Frontier Force was raised from British Empire troops during the Senussi campaign from November 1915 to February 1917, under the command of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF). Orders for the formation of the force were issued on ...

in the Senussi campaign. In February 1917, he was given his first divisional command, the

Imperial Mounted Division The Australian Mounted Division originally formed as the Imperial Mounted Division in January 1917, was a mounted infantry, light horse and yeomanry division. The division was formed in Egypt, and along with the Anzac Mounted Division formed p ...

, later renamed the Australian Mounted Division. His immediate commander General

Harry Chauvel General Sir Henry George Chauvel, (16 April 1865 – 4 March 1945) was a senior officer of the Australian Imperial Force who fought at Gallipoli and during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. He was ...

said of him "his masterpiece was probably his skilful withdrawal of his own division and attached brigades from Es Salt during the

second Trans-Jordan raid The Second Transjordan attack on Shunet Nimrin and Es Salt, officially known by the British as the Second action of Es SaltBattles Nomenclature Committee 1922 p. 33 and by others as the Second Battle of the Jordan,Erickson 2001 p. 195 was fou ...

, when, owing to the defection of certain of our Arab allies and a determined counter-attack by the enemy, he was surrounded on three sides, and his line of retreat almost cut off in extremely difficult country. His coolness and determination on that occasion, coupled with the bravery of his troops, saved Australia very serious losses, and earned him the complete confidence of his troops".

Later career

Hodgson was promoted to substantive major-general on 1 January 1919, having only been a substantive colonel and a temporary major-general beforehand. For his service in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

he was awarded the

Order of the Nile The Order of the Nile (''Kiladat El Nil'') was established in 1915 and was one of the Kingdom of Egypt's principal orders until the monarchy was abolished in 1953. It was then reconstituted as the Republic of Egypt's highest state honor. Sulta ...

(Second Class) in November 1919, by the

Sultan of Egypt Sultan of Egypt was the status held by the rulers of Egypt after the establishment of the Ayyubid dynasty of Saladin in 1174 until the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. Though the extent of the Egyptian Sultanate ebbed and flowed, it generally ...

, and the

Military Order of Savoy The Military Order of Savoy was a military honorary order of the Kingdom of Sardinia first, and of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946), Kingdom of Italy later. Following the abolition of the Italian monarchy, the order became the Military Order of ...

by Italy. In June 1920 he became the colonel of the

, overseeing the amalgamation with the

20th Hussars The 20th Hussars was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. After service in the First World War it was amalgamated with the 14th King's Hussars to form the 14th/20th King's Hussars in 1922. History Early wars The regiment was originally ra ...

when they became the

14th/20th King's Hussars The 14th/20th King's Hussars was a Cavalry regiments of the British Army, cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was created by the amalgamation of the 14th King's Hussars and the 20th Hussars in 1922 and, after service in the World War II, S ...

. His last command came in June 1923 when he succeeded Major General Sir John Longley as GOC of the

44th (Home Counties) Division The Home Counties Division was an infantry division of the Territorial Force, part of the British Army, that was raised in 1908. As the name suggests, the division recruited in the Home Counties, particularly Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex ...

, a Territorial Army formation, before retiring from the army in 1927. Henry West Hodgson died at the age of 61 in London on 5 February 1930, and was buried at

St Mary Magdalene's Church, Bolney St Mary Magdalene's Church is an Anglicanism, Anglican church in the village of Bolney in Mid Sussex District, Mid Sussex, one of seven Districts of England, local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. The parish church, whi ...

, England.

Footnotes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hodgson, Henry 1868 births 1930 deaths Burials in West Sussex British Army major generals Military personnel from the London Borough of Lambeth British Army cavalry generals of World War I Companions of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order 15th The King's Hussars officers 14th King's Hussars officers 14th/20th King's Hussars officers People from Clapham