Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby
The Viscount Allenby
23 April, 1861 – 14 May, 1936
Field Marshal Lord Allenby
Place of
birth
Brackenhurst, Nottinghamshire,
England
Place of
death
London, England
Allegiance
United Kingdom
Service/
branch
British Army
Years of
service
1880 – 1925
Rank
Field Marshal
Battles/
wars
Second Boer War
World War I
Awards
Knight Grand Cross of the Order
of the Bath
Knight Grand Cross of the Order
of St Michael and St George
Knight Grand Cross of the Royal
Victorian Order
Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Al-
lenby, 1st Viscount Allenby GCB, GCMG,
GCVO (23 April, 1861 – 14 May, 1936) was a
British soldier and administrator most fam-
ous 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 ef-
forts with the Arab Revolt were greatly aided
by Allenby, thought similarly of him: "(He
was) physically large and confident, and mor-
ally so great that the comprehension of our
littleness came slow to him".[1] Allenby was
arguably one of the most successful British
commanders of the war, utilizing strategies
he developed from his experiences in the Bo-
er War and on the Western Front towards his
Palestinian Campaigns of 1917-8. His man-
agement of the Battle of Megiddo in particu-
lar, with its brilliant use of infantry and mo-
bile cavalry, is considered by many to be a
precursor to the Blitzkrieg tactics so widely
employed by Germany during World War II.
Early years and active
service
Born in Brackenhurst, Nottinghamshire, Al-
lenby was educated at Haileybury College.
He had no great desire to be a soldier, and
tried to enter the Indian Civ