Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Stanley Maude was a British Army officer. He is known for his operations in the Mesopotamian campaign during the First World War and for conquering Baghdad in 1917.
Background
Maude was born in Gibraltar into a military family. His father was Sir Frederick Francis Maude, a general who had been awarded the Victoria Cross in 1855 during the Crimean War, and who is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London. His mother was Catherine Mary Bisshopp, daughter of Very Reverend Sir George Bisshopp, 9th Baronet of Parham Sussex, a title created in July 1620.
Education
Maude attended Eton College and then the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He graduated in 1883 and joined the Coldstream Guards in February 1884.
Career
From 1901 to 1905 he was military secretary to the earl of Minto, governor general of Canada. Maude spent the next three years in secretarial appointments, and from 1908 until 1914 held staff assignments in England and in Ireland.
Early in August 1914, Maude joined the staff of General William Pulteney of the III Army Corps during the retreat from Mons, and took an active role in the ensuing battles of the Marne, the Aisne, Armentieres, and the Lys. In October he was appointed brigadier general of the Thirteenth Brigade, and he led this unit in the counterattack at Neuve Chapelle. Maude was wounded at St. Eloi and came home in November. In May 1915, he rejoined his brigade, was promoted major general six weeks later as head of the Thirty-first Division, and in August was sent to the Dardanelles to command the Thirteenth Division. Maude found his unit at Anzac Cove badly mutiliated: barely a single brigade remained after the battles for the Sari Bair heights. The division was transferred to Suvla Bay by Sir Ian Hamilton, but in December Maude received instructions to prepare for the evacuation of his forces. The Thirteenth Division briefly made a stand at Cape Helles until this position, too, was evacuated in January 1916.
After a brief stay in Egypt, Maude's forces were ordered to Mesopotamia in February to reinforce the Tigris Corps in an attempt to relieve Sir Charles Townshend, besieged at Kut el Amara by the Turks. But to no avail; the Ottoman forces could not be budged, and Kut fell on April 29, 1916. In July Maude received command of the Tigris Corps and the following month of the Army of Mesopotamia.
From 1901 to 1905 he was military secretary to the earl of Minto, governor general of Canada. Maude spent the next three years in secretarial appointments, and from 1908 until 1914 held staff assignments in England and in Ireland.
Early in August 1914, Maude joined the staff of General William Pulteney of the III Army Corps during the retreat from Mons, and took an active role in the ensuing battles of the Marne, the Aisne, Armentieres, and the Lys. In October he was appointed brigadier general of the Thirteenth Brigade, and he led this unit in the counterattack at Neuve Chapelle. Maude was wounded at St. Eloi and came home in November. In May 1915, he rejoined his brigade, was promoted major general six weeks later as head of the Thirty-first Division, and in August was sent to the Dardanelles to command the Thirteenth Division. Maude found his unit at Anzac Cove badly mutiliated: barely a single brigade remained after the battles for the Sari Bair heights. The division was transferred to Suvla Bay by Sir Ian Hamilton, but in December Maude received instructions to prepare for the evacuation of his forces. The Thirteenth Division briefly made a stand at Cape Helles until this position, too, was evacuated in January 1916.
After a brief stay in Egypt, Maude's forces were ordered to Mesopotamia in February to reinforce the Tigris Corps in an attempt to relieve Sir Charles Townshend, besieged at Kut el Amara by the Turks. But to no avail; the Ottoman forces could not be budged, and Kut fell on April 29, 1916. In July Maude received command of the Tigris Corps and the following month of the Army of Mesopotamia.
Views
"Our armies do not come into your cities and lands as conquerors or enemies, but as liberators." — Baghdad, March, 1917
Membership
Club: Guards’.
Connections
Spouse 1893, Cecil Cornelia Marianne St. Leger,daughter of late Col. Rt. Hon. Thomas Edward Taylor, M.P.,of Ardsillan Castle, Co.