# Aylmer Haldane

General Sir James Aylmer Lowthorpe Haldane, GCMG, KCB, DSO (17 November 1862 – 19 April 1950) was a Scottish soldier who rose to high rank in the British Army.

## Early life

Born to physician Daniel Rutherford Haldane and his wife Charlotte Elizabeth née Lowthorpe, James Aylmer Lowthorpe Haldane came from a family of distinguished Scottish aristocrats based in Gleneagles. He was cousin to Richard Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane, Secretary of State for War 1905–1912, instigator of the Haldane Reforms.

## Military career

In September 1882, after attending the Edinburgh Academy and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Haldane was commissioned as a British officer of the Gordon Highlanders. On 18 February 1886, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and, after being made an adjutant in September 1888, on 8 April 1892 he was promoted to the rank of captain.
Between 1894 and 1895, Haldane was part of the Waziristan Field Force and participated in the Chitral Expedition. He was dispatched to quell the Afridis rebellion in the Tirah campaign for the next two years (1897–1898), was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) on 20 May 1898, and became aide-de-camp to General Sir William Lockhart, Commander-in-Chief in India, later the same year. Haldane fought in the Second Boer War in South Africa, where he was taken as a prisoner of war. While imprisoned in Pretoria, he planned the escape which made Winston Churchill famous. Haldane failed to escape at the same time and later complained of Churchill's lack of regard for those who should have escaped with him. However, Haldane later managed his own escape.
Haldane was appointed a staff captain in the intelligence section at the War Office on 27 June 1901, promoted to major on 23 July 1902, and received the brevet rank of lieutenant colonel on the following day. He was made a deputy assistant quartermaster general at the War Office in July 1903 and became a military attaché with the Imperial Japanese Army from July 1904 to September 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War, and accompanied Japanese forces into Manchuria.
Following promotion to brevet colonel in January 1906, Haldane was appointed Companion of the Bath on 16 March 1906 and granted the substantive rank of colonel on 29 October 1906 at the same time as he took over the post of assistant director at headquarters from Brevet Colonel Francis Davies. From 1906 to 1909, he served as assistant director of military intelligence. On 1 October 1909, Haldane was made a brigadier general, general staff (BGGS) at Eastern Command and was promoted to temporary brigadier general while employed in this position, taking over from Brigadier General Thomas Snow.
In May 1912 he become commander of the 4th Division's 10th Infantry Brigade, in succession to Colonel Edward Montagu-Stuart-Wortley and he was allowed to retain his temporary rank while in command of the brigade.
Haldane fought in World War I initially, after being promoted to major general in October 1914, as general officer commanding (GOC) 3rd Division, then part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), which he assumed command of on 5 November although this was later rectified to 21 November. After commanding the division for the next almost two years, he was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant-general in August 1916 and given command of 6th Army Corps in France, a post he retained for the remainder of the war.
After the war, Haldane, his rank of lieutenant general being made permanent in January 1919, was appointed GOC Mesopotamia in 1920 and remained in that post until 1922. After being promoted to full general in March, he retired later in the year.

## Death

Haldane died in his 88th year on 19 April 1950 at his home in London, his body was buried at Brookwood Cemetery, in Surrey.

## Honours and decorations

* Order of the Sacred Treasure, Japan, 1905.

## Selected works

Haldane's published writings encompass 6 works in 8 publications in 1 language and 311 library holdings.
* How We Escaped from Pretoria. Edinburgh: W. Blackwood. 1901.
* A brigade of the old army, 1914, relating to operations of 10 Infantry Bde, France, Aug–Nov 1914. London: Edward Arnold. 1920.
* The Insurrection in Mesopotamia, 1920. London: W. Blackwood and sons. 1922. Archived from the original on 17 October 2006.
* The Haldanes of Gleneagles. Edinburgh: W. Blackwood. 1929.
* A Soldier's Saga: The Autobiography of General Sir Aylmer Haldane. Edinburgh: W. Blackwood. 1948.

### Papers

* LIDDELL HART CENTRE FOR MILITARY ARCHIVES
    The papers of Lt Gen Sir Lawrence Worthington Parsons include letter from Haldane relating to 16 Irish Div 1916; the papers of Brig Sir James Edward Edmonds include 12 letters from Haldane 1905–1935 (ref: Edmonds)
* BRITISH LIBRARY, ORIENTAL AND INDIA OFFICE COLLECTIONS, LONDON
    Copy of Haldane's official report, Battle of the Sha-Ho, Second Japanese Army, operations from the 5 September to the 19 October 1904 (ref: 9057.de.2)
* CHURCHILL ARCHIVES CENTRE, CHURCHILL COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
    The papers of Maj Gen Sir Edward Louis Spears include correspondence 1934–1938 (ref: SPRS 1/156)
* IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM, LONDON
    Diary as 10 Bde Commander, Shorncliffe 1912–1914; The papers of FM Sir Henry Hughes Wilson include correspondence with Haldane 1920–1921 (ref: HHW)
* NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND, EDINBURGH
    Collection of papers 1890–1950 (ref: MSS 20247-59); including letters and diaries; papers relating to his World War I service; papers relating to Mesopotamia 1920–1922