John French

Short Biography

French was a cadet in the Navy 1866-70, became an officer in the cavalry in 1874. He participated with distinction in the expedition to Sudan 1884-85, became Major General in 1899 and was appointed to the Boerkrigets outbreak in 1899 to head the cavalry division, with which he won the victory at Elandslaagte October 21, 1899. At the conclusion of peace, he was lieutenant-general , and was the 1900-07 commander of the troops in Aldershot. Frech was 1907-12 Inspector General of the Army. 1912 was appointed to the French General Staff (Chief of the Imperial General Staff) and became field marshal (Field Marshal) 1913. French was forced to resign as chief of staff after unrest in the army in Ireland in July 1914 but received in August the command of the British expititionskåren, BEF , sent to France when World War I broke out. French did not cooperate either with the War Minister Lord Kitchener or the head of the French Fifth Army on the BEF's right flank, Charles Lanzerac . BEF retreated in disarray after the battles of Mons and Le Cateau . Before the Battle of the Marne , it was only after a personal appeal from the French supreme commander Joseph Joffre as French agreed to deploy the British Army in the gap between the German first and second armies. This was a great success, but in March 1915 the French under fire again after blaming the failure to break through the German lines in the Battle of Neuve-Chapelle on the government not produced enough grenades. After several incidents French was replaced by Douglas Haig in December 1915. French then became the head of the army at home (Home Forces) to 1918 and finally Lord Lieutenant - in practice, military governor - in Ireland for 1921.