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 Webb Gillman, (26 October 1870 – 20 April 1933) 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 ...

general 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 ...

Personal life

Webb Gillman was born on 26 October 1870 in

Galle Galle (, ; , ) (formerly ) is a major city on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, south of Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Southern Province, Sri Lanka and is the capital of Galle District. Galle was known as ''Gi ...

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, the second son of Herbert Webb Gillman CCS and Annie née Mackwood. On 8 February 1911 he married Caroline Grace Elizabeth Rube, the daughter of Charles Rube. They had three children: Herbert Charles Rube (1912-1970), who fought in the Second World War, was appointed a MBE and awarded the

Croix de Guerre The (, ''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 awarded during World ...

, reaching the rank of

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

in the Royal Artillery; Catherine Anne Rube (1913-?) and Susan Elizabeth (1915-1961).

Military career

Educated at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

, Gillman was commissioned into the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It was created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of the regiment, the ...

in July 1889.Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> He was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 27 July 1892, and to

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

(supernumerary to the establishment) on 9 October 1899. He served in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

1899–1900, where he took part in the

Relief of Kimberley The siege of Kimberley took place during the Second Boer War at Kimberley, Cape Colony (present-day South Africa), when Boer forces from the Orange Free State and the Transvaal besieged the diamond mining town. The Boers moved quickly to try t ...

, and the following battles of Paardeberg (late February 1900), Poplar Grove, and Driefontein (March 1900). In late 1901 he was in Southern Nigeria, where he was attached as a staff officer to the columns taking part in the Aro-Anglo war (November 1901 to March 1902), for which he was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) 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 of t ...

by the officer in command as an "invaluable officer, cool and full of energy". He was also 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) for services during the war. In May 1902 he received a regular appointment as captain of the 119 Battery of the Field Artillery. He later spent time in Southern Nigeria in 1902. In April 1908 he served as an assistant military secretary to Lieutenant General Sir Arthur Paget, who had recently been placed in charge of Eastern Command. He served in the

, being seconded in January 1915 to the

13th (Western) Division The 13th (Western) Division was one of the Kitchener's Army divisions in the First World War, raised from volunteers by Lord Kitchener. It fought at Gallipoli, in Mesopotamia (including the capture of Baghdad) and Persia. War service 1914–191 ...

as its general staff officer, grade 1 (GSO1). In February 1915 he was made a CMG and in October he was promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier general and became a brigadier general, Royal Artillery while serving with 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 ...

during the Gallipoli campaign in 1915. He was then promoted to brevet colonel in February 1916, "for Distinguished Service in the Field", although this was later antedated to January. He was advanced to temporary major general in June while serving with the

British Salonika Army The British Salonika Army was a field army of the British Army during World War I. After the armistice in November 1918, it was disbanded, but component units became the newly formed Army of the Black Sea, and General Milne remained in command. Fi ...

and served as its chief of the general staff. He became commander of the

17th Indian Division The 17th Indian Division was formed in 1917 from units of the British Indian Army for service in the Mesopotamia Campaign during World War I. After the war, it formed part of the occupation force for Iraq and took part in the Iraq Rebellion i ...

in August 1917. He became CGS of the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force later on, dated December 1917. He was appointed 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 January 1917, and appointed a

Knight Commander 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 ...

in June 1919. His rank of major general became substantive in June 1918. After the war he became

commandant Commandant ( or ; ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ...

of the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of Officer (armed forces), commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers o ...

in 1920, Inspector of Artillery at the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

in 1924 and, after being promoted to lieutenant general in November 1926,

Master-General of the Ordnance The Master-General of the Ordnance (MGO) was a very senior British military position from 1415 to 2013 (except 1855–1895 and 1939–1958) with some changes to the name, usually held by a serving general. The Master-General of the Ordnance was ...

in 1927. In 1927 he spent three months in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

assessing the defence capability of the Naval Base there. Finally, in March 1931, 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 for Eastern Command; he died in office in 1933. He had been promoted to general in July 1931.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gillman, Webb 1870 births 1933 deaths Ceylonese military personnel British Army generals British Army generals of World War I British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Commandants of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Commanders of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Commanders of the Legion of Honour Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath People educated at Dulwich College People from Galle Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 2nd class Royal Field Artillery officers British expatriates in British Ceylon People of the Gallipoli campaign