Monteith Hamilton General

Born in Corfu, Greek Islands, 16 January 1853, but brought up at the family home in Argyll. Passing through Wellington and Sandhurst he served in India then Natal, being wounded at Majuba Hill in 1881. He was back in Africa for the Boer War and had a good war there, commanding the mounted infantry during the advance on Pretoria.

He was knighted in 1902 and was made a general in 1907, becoming British commander in chief in the Mediterranean in 1910. In March 1915, Hamilton was handed the poisoned chalice of being in command of the Gallipoli campaign. This had been devised as a means of breaking the stalemate on the Western Front, the perception widely held by all in the British War Council that Turkey would be easily defeated.

For the next six months the Allied forces tried to force their way through the Dardanelles, but the Turkish Army had been galvanised by the leadership of Mustufa Kemal and put up an unbreakable defence. Hamilton was eventually replaced in October 1915 and was given no further command. He published a Gallipoli Diary in 1920 and was rector of Edinburgh University from 1932-35.

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