Mediterranean Command was a short-lived command of the British Army in the early twentieth century, based in

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. It had nominal command of the British troops around the Mediterranean Sea: in Malta,

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

History

The post was created in 1907 for

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

's brother, Field Marshal the Duke of Connaught. Connaught, as

Inspector-General of the Forces Inspector-General of the Forces was a British Army appointment. There were also Inspectors-General for the different arms. Inspector-General of the Forces The post was created to review and report on the training and efficiency of units of the Br ...

, had antagonised the War Office by his negative reports on the Esher reforms of the Army. He was too senior to be sacked, so was shifted sideways into the Mediterranean Command. He regarded the post as "the fifth wheel on the coach" and only accepted it on the King's insistence, but resigned two years later, effectively ending his military career. The post was next offered to Lord Kitchener, recently returned as

Commander-in-Chief, India During the period of the Company and Crown rule in India, the Commander-in-Chief, India (often "Commander-in-Chief ''in'' or ''of'' India") was the supreme commander of the Indian Army from 1833 to 1947. The Commander-in-Chief and most of his ...

. Kitchener, who had ambitions to be appointed

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

, also had to be persuaded by the King to accept, but first went on a seven-month world tour. On his return in April 1910 the King released him from his promise to take up the post. Instead the Adjutant-General Sir Ian Hamilton was appointed, with the additional role of Inspector-General of Overseas Forces to make the job more attractive. Field Marshal Commanding-in-Chief and High Commissioner in the Mediterranean * 31 December 1907: Field Marshal HRH The Duke of Connaught and Strathearn General Officer Commanding-in-Chief and High Commissioner in the Mediterranean * 1 August 1909 (temporary): General Sir Frederick William Edward Forestier-Walker, Governor of Gibraltar * 1 August 1910: General Sir

Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton General Sir Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton, (16 January 1853 – 12 October 1947) was a senior British Army officer who had an extensive British Imperial military career in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Hamilton was twice recommended for t ...

In July 1914 Hamilton was back in Britain and, on the outbreak 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 ...

the following month, was appointed to command

Central Force In classical mechanics, a central force on an object is a force that is directed towards or away from a point called center of force. \mathbf(\mathbf) = F( \mathbf ) where F is a force vector, ''F'' is a scalar valued force function (whose abso ...

at home. The position of GOC-in-C Mediterranean was left vacant. On the formation of the

Mediterranean Expeditionary Force The Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (MEF) was the part of the British Army during World War I that commanded all Allied forces at Gallipoli and Salonika. It was formed in March 1915, under the command of General Sir Ian Hamilton, at the begi ...

in March 1915, Hamilton was appointed commander-in-chief.

References

{{reflist Commands of the British Army 20th-century history of the British Army