Sir Herbert Plumer did not appear in the field in the European War till January, 1915, when he was given command of the new V Corps, holding the southern side of the Ypres Salient. When General Smith-Dorrien retired in April of that year from the command of the Second Army, Sir Herbert succeeded him. It was that Army which fought the Second Battle of Ypres, and has since remained on the left flank of the British front in the West. It has seen severe fighting, such as the Hooge battle of August, 1915, the advance at Hooge during the Battle of Loos in September, 1915, the struggle at the Bluff in the spring of 1916, and the action of the Canadians at Ypres in June of the same year. The Ypres Salient has become historic as the most critical part of the British line.
The Second Army was not engaged during the Battle of the Somme or the first stages of the Battle of Arras, but on Thursday, June 7th, 1917, attacking on the whole front from the Ypres salient to Ploegsteert Wood, it carried all its objectives, with the vital Wytschaete-Messines Ridge, put an end to the embarrassment of the Ypres salient, took over 7,000 prisoners, and accounted for at least 30,000 of the enemy,—the whole at a small expense of British lives. The action was probably the most perfectly planned and executed in the history of the campaign.
Sir Herbert Plumer is the best type of British regular officer, an enthusiast for the historic traditions of the army, a soldier with wide experience in many lands and many different forms of campaign. His patience and stamina and perfect judgment have made him for many months a brilliant Warden of the Flanders Marches.
III
GENERAL SIR HENRY SEYMOUR RAWLINSON, BART., G.C.V.O., K.C.B.
SIR HENRY RAWLINSON was born on February 20th, 1864; the eldest son of Major-General Sir H. C. Rawlinson, Bart. He was educated at Eton and Sandhurst, and in February, 1884, entered the 60th Rifles. After acting as A.D.C. for four years to Lord Roberts, then Commander-in-Chief in India, he served with the Mounted Infantry in the Burma campaign, 1888. He exchanged into the Coldstream Guards in 1891, was a Brigade Major at Aldershot from 1894 to 1896, and served in the Soudan Campaign of 1897-8 as D.A.A.G. to Lord Kitchener, being present at the Battles of Atbara and Omdurman. In the South African War he was through the siege of Ladysmith as A.A.G. to Sir George White, acted as A.A.G. to Lord Roberts' Army at Headquarters, and commanded with great distinction a Mobile Column during the last eighteen months of the war. As Column Commander he was more than once in action against the brilliant soldier who is now Lieut.-General Smuts. He was Commandant of the Staff College from 1903-6, commanded the 2nd Brigade at Aldershot 1907-10, and the 3rd Division at Salisbury Plain 1910-14.
On the outbreak of the European War he was given command of the 4th Division on the Aisne, and was then put in command of the new IV Corps which included the 7th Division and which landed in Flanders in the beginning of October, 1914. The exploits of the 7th Division form one of the most glorious pages in modern British military history. As all the world knows, it was compelled to fall back with the 3rd Cavalry Division towards Ypres, and on October 16th held the line east of Ypres running through Gheluvelt. On the 20th of the month Sir Douglas Haig's I Corps came into line on its left, and the First Battle of Ypres began. The story of its desperate fighting for Gheluvelt and then for the Klein Zillebeke ridge is familiar to all. The best account of the exploits of the 7th Division is to be found in an order issued by Major-General Capper who then commanded the Division and was later killed in action.
GENERAL SIR HENRY RAWLINSON