General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Sir Thomas Lethbridge Napier Morland, (9 August 1865 – 21 May 1925) was a senior

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 during 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

Born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Canada East Canada East () was the northeastern portion of the Province of Canada. Lord Durham's Report investigating the causes of the Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions recommended merging those two colonies. The new colony, known as the Province of ...

, Morland was the son of Thomas Morland and Helen Servante. Educated at

Charterhouse School Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...

and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

, Morland was commissioned as a second lieutenant into 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 August 1884.

Military career

He attended the

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which ...

from 1891 to 1892. In February 1895 he was appointed aide-de-camp to General Sir Arthur Lyon Fremantle.

Service in West Africa

Morland, who in July 1899 was promoted to brevet major, later served in

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel and being appointed

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 West African Field Force in 1900. The following year, after being promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel in January 1901, he was in command of an expedition to Yola, leading to the defeat and deposition of the Emir of Adamawa in September 1901, and to British occupation of the Adamawa Emirate, important for the later occupation of the

Sokoto Caliphate The Sokoto Caliphate (, literally: Caliphate in the Lands of Sudan), also known as the Sultanate of Sokoto, was a Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim caliphate in West Africa. It was founded by Usman dan Fodio in 1804 during the Fula jihads, Fulani jihads ...

as it reduced slave traffic through the Adamawa area. Morland was wounded by a

poisoned arrow Arrow poisons are used to poison arrow heads or darts for the purposes of hunting and warfare. They have been used by indigenous peoples worldwide and are still in use in areas of South America, Africa and Asia. Notable examples are the poisons se ...

during the fighting, but stuck to his command. In a despatch describing the expedition, the acting High Commissioner of Northern Nigeria gave him "very great credit for the successful issue of this important expedition." The following year he was appointed a Companion of the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

(DSO) in recognition of his services (dated 25 April 1902). In 1902 he was appointed commander of the forces in Northern Nigeria, and served as advisor to the French and British commissioners appointed for

boundary delimitation Electoral boundary delimitation (or simply boundary delimitation or delimitation) is the drawing of boundaries of electoral precincts and related divisions involved in elections, such as Federated state, states, counties or other municipalities ...

in the area. He led a British force to victory in the Battle of Kano in February 1903. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in May 1904. In September 1905 he was appointed inspector general of the West African Field Force and for which he was granted the local rank of brigadier general while so employed. For this appointment he was granted the substantive rank of colonel. He completed this assignment in September 1909 and was then again placed on half-pay.

First World War

In June 1910, after coming off of 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, Morland was promoted to temporary brigadier general and succeeded

Nevil Macready General (United Kingdom), General Sir Cecil Frederick Nevil Macready, 1st Baronet, (7 May 1862 – 9 January 1946), known affectionately as Make-Ready (close to the correct pronunciation of his name), was a British Army officer. He served in ...

in command of the 2nd Infantry Brigade, a position he held until the outbreak of the First World War. In March 1913 he was promoted to major general, while still commanding the brigade. Morland then became

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 ...

(GOC) 2nd London Division in August 1914, then GOC of 14th Division in September 1914 and finally GOC of 5th Division in October 1914. He was made a KCB in June 1915 and was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant general in July, and commanded X Corps from then through to April 1918. During this time, he was one of General Sir Herbert Plumer's corps commanders at the Battle of Messines in 1917.

Post-war

At the end of the war, Morland, who in January 1918 was promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant general, took command of XIII Corps. In August he became colonel of the

Suffolk Regiment The Suffolk Regiment was an infantry regiment Line infantry, of the line in the British Army with a history dating back to 1685. It saw service for three centuries, participating in many wars and conflicts, including the World War I, First and ...

. He held the command of XIII Corps until 1920, when he was promoted and made commander-in-chief of the

British Army of the Rhine British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was the name given to British Army occupation forces in the Rhineland, West Germany, after the First and Second World Wars, and during the Cold War, becoming part of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) tasked ...

, in succession to General Sir William Robertson. Two years later, in March 1922, he was appointed

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 ...

-in-Chief of Aldershot Command and, after succeeding General Sir Charles Monro as

aide-de-camp general Aide-de-camp general is a senior honorary appointment for General (United Kingdom), generals in the British Army. The recipient is appointed as an aide-de-camp general to the head of state, currently King Charles III. They are entitled to the post- ...

to King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...

in June, was promoted to full general in November. He retired the following year, in 1923. In January 1925 he was appointed

colonel commandant Colonel commandant is a military title used in the armed forces of some English-speaking countries. The title, not a substantive military rank, could denote a senior colonel with authority over fellow colonels. Today, the holder often has an honor ...

of the 1st Battalion, KRRC. Morland died at the age of 59 on 21 May 1925 and was buried in the English cemetery at Villeneuve, Montreux.

Family

In 1890, Morland married Mabel St. John, with whom he had two daughters.

In popular culture

Morland was portrayed by Eric Carte in the 2006

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television show, television and feature film, film, which features Drama (film and television), dramatized Historical reenactment, re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of docu ...

'' The Somme - From Defeat to Victory''.

References

Bibliography

* , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Morland, Thomas 1865 births 1925 deaths Military personnel from Montreal British Army generals of World War I Companions of the Distinguished Service Order King's Royal Rifle Corps officers Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George People educated at Charterhouse School Royal West African Frontier Force officers Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst British expatriates in Nigeria People from colonial Nigeria British Army generals Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley 19th-century British Army personnel