Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby GCB, GCMG, GCVO (23 April, 1861 – 14 May, 1936) was a British soldier and administrator most famous for his role during World War I, in which he led the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in the conquest of Palestine and Syria in 1917 and 1918. Allenby, nicknamed the "Bloody Bull", is generally considered to have been a martinet who tyrannically ruled over the men serving under him. However, Archibald Wavell, a British field marshal during World War II who had served under Allenby, defends him as being an intelligent and caring man, if a professional consummate soldier. T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia"), whose efforts with the Arab Revolt were greatly aided by Allenby, thought similarly of him: "(He was) physically large and confident, and morally so great that the comprehension of our littleness came slow to him". Allenby was arguably one of the most successful British commanders of the war, utilizing strategies he developed from his experiences in the Boer War and on the Western Front towards his Palestinian Campaigns of 1917-8. His management of the Battle of Megiddo in particular, with its brilliant use of infantry and mobile cavalry, is considered by many to be a precursor to the Blitzkrieg tactics so widely employed by Germany during World War II. During World War I he initially served on the Western Front. At the outbreak of war a BEF was sent to France, consisting of four infantry divisions and one cavalry division, the latter commanded by Allenby, who distinguished himself when his unit covered the retreat after the Battle of Mons. As the BEF was expanded in size to two Armies, he was rewarded by being made commander of the Cavalry Corps. In 1915 he commanded V Corps during the Second Battle of Ypres and in October he took charge of the British Third Army. However at the Battle of Arras in the spring of 1917, his forces failed to exploit a breakthrough and he was replaced by Julian Byng on 9 June. A significant reason for his removal from command and transfer was his continuing feud with Field Marshal Haig over tactical matters. Shortly after his arrival in Egypt, he learned that his son, Michael, had been killed on the Western Front by German artillery. He retired in 1925 and died very suddenly, from a ruptured cerebral aneurysm, on 14 May, 1936 in London. His ashes were buried in Westminster Abbey.
Heres his son Michael ..... In Memory of Lieutenant HORACE MICHAEL HYNMAN ALLENBY M C "T" Bty., Royal Horse Artillery who died age 19 on 29 July 1917 Son of Field Marshal Sir Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby of Megiddo, and Adelaide M. Allenby, Viscountess Allenby of Megiddo. Remembered with honour COXYDE MILITARY CEMETERY
