William Pitcairn Campbell

Sir William Pitcairn Campbell
General Sir William Pitcairn Campbell
Born(1856-06-20)20 June 1856
Died22 September 1933(1933-09-22) (aged 77)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service / branchBritish Army
RankLieutenant General
CommandsWestern Command
Southern Command
5th Division
3rd Brigade
1st Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps
Battles / warsMahdist War
Second Boer War
First World War
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath

Lieutenant General Sir William Pitcairn Campbell, KCB (20 June 1856 – 22 September 1933) was a British Army general during the First World War.

Early life

Pitcairn Campbell was the son of James Pitcairn Campbell and his wife, Eleanor (née Eyre), of Burton Hall, Neston. He had two elder sisters, Eliza and Georgina. He was educated at Windlesham House School, Eton College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.[1][2]

Military career

Pitcairn Campbell was commissioned into the King's Royal Rifle Corps in 1875.[3] He served with the Mounted Infantry Camel Corps in Sudan between 1884 and 1885.[3][4] His battalion served in South Africa from 1899 to 1901 during the Second Boer War. At the Battle of Talana Hill he was wounded and his commanding officer was killed. As second in command, he took command of his battalion and was part of the garrison besieged at Ladysmith.[4] He was subsequently promoted to lieutenant colonel in command of the 1st Battalion on 25 January 1900.[3][5]

Pitcairn Campbell was aide-de-camp to King Edward VII from 1900 to 1907 and was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the King's Birthday Honours of June 1906.[6][1][7] He was appointed commander of the 3rd Brigade in 1904 and General Officer Commanding 5th Division in 1909.[3]

Promoted to lieutenant general in October 1913,[8] he moved on to be General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Southern Command from 1914 and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Command from 1916; he retired in 1918.[3]

Pitcairn Campbell was knighted in 1915 on promotion to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath.[9][4] In 1916, he was appointed Colonel of the Highland Light Infantry, succeeding General Sir Henry Hildyard.[10][11]

Family

In 1888 a fellow infantry officer, Major Gilbert, who had been serving in India, named Pitcairn Campbell as co-respondent in the divorce case against his wife. The following year, he and Edith Gilbert (née Prothero) married and went on to have one daughter.[12][13]

References

  1. ^ a b Malden, Henry C. (1902). Muster Roll. Windlesham House, Brighton. A.D. 1837 to 1902 (2nd ed.). Brighton: H. & C. Treacher.
  2. ^ "Sir W.P. Campbell: Death of Former G.O.C., Western Command". Western Morning News. 23 September 1933.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Sir William Pitcairn Campbell". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives.
  4. ^ a b c "Death of Sir Wm. Pitcairn Campbell". Cheshire Observer. 30 September 1933.
  5. ^ "No. 27160". The London Gazette. 2 February 1900. p. 694.
  6. ^ "No. 27926". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 June 1906. p. 4460.
  7. ^ "Lieutenant-General Sir William Pitcairn Campbell (1856–1933)". lafayette.org.uk. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  8. ^ "No. 28762". The London Gazette. 7 October 1913. p. 6984.
  9. ^ "The King's Birthday. List of Honours". The Globe. 29 June 1906.
  10. ^ The Highland Light Infantry: Succession of Colonels 1777–1957 at britisharmedforces.org
  11. ^ Light Infantry Regiments
  12. ^ Lt.-Gen. Sir William Pitcairn Campbell The Peerage.com
  13. ^ England & Wales, Civil Divorce Records, 1858–1916. Kew, Surrey: The National Archives of the UK. 1916.
Military offices
Preceded by General Officer Commanding 5th Division
1909–1913 		Succeeded by
Preceded by GOC-in-C Southern Command
1914–1916 		Succeeded by
Preceded by GOC-in-C Western Command
1916–1918 		Succeeded by