Herman Landon Major - General Herman James Shelley Landon , CB , CMG , ( 23 August 1859 – 16 October 1948 ) , was a British Army officer . During the Boer War he commanded a battalion , and was promoted in the interwar period to take command of a brigade in the British Expeditionary Force . He commanded the brigade during the early fighting on the Western Front in the First World War , and succeeded to the command of 1st Infantry Division when his commanding officer was killed at the First Battle of Ypres ; he later commanded four more New Army divisions during the war . Early career . Herman Landon was born in August 1859 , the son of James Landon and Mary Maria Landon ; he had one elder sister , Leititia , and a substantially older stepsister , Geraldine Leigh . The family was comfortably well off , living in the respectable area of Paddington , London . James Landon was an Indian cotton merchant ; though predominantly involved in growing rather than processing , he had been responsible for setting up one of the first successful cotton mills in India , at Bharuch in Gujarat , in 1854 . Later in the decade he advised Ranchhodlal Chhotalal on the development of a similar mill in Ahmedabad . He died in March 1879 , leaving a substantial estate of eight to nine thousand pounds . Herman Landon was educated at Harrow from 1874 to 1876 , leaving just before his seventeenth birthday . He later attended the Royal Military College , Sandhurst , passing out in 1879 and taking a commission in the 6th Regiment of Foot . He served in the Sudan in 1898 , where he saw action at the Battle of Atbara and the Battle of Omdurman , and was mentioned in despatches . He returned to Africa in 1900 , in the Boer War , where he took temporary command of his battalion , the 2nd Royal Warwickshire Regiment , from March to November . For this service , he was again mentioned in despatches , as well as being given a brevet promotion to lieutenant colonel . He then was sent to India , where he joined the 1st Battalion of the Royal Warwickshires , and in 1902 was promoted to substantive lieutenant colonel , and given command of the battalion . He remained in command until 1906 , receiving a brevet promotion to colonel in 1904 . From February to October 1906 he was on half - pay , and in October was appointed Inspector of Gymnasia in India . In 1907 , he was promoted substantive colonel . He returned to an active command in 1910 , when he was made a Brigadier - General and given command of 3rd Brigade . He married Christian Sharp in 1903 , and they had one daughter . First World War . The 3rd Brigade , part of 1st Infantry Division , mobilised with the British Expeditionary Force on the outbreak of the First World War , and was sent to France . Landon commanded it during the Retreat from Mons , the Battle of the Marne and the Battle of the Aisne , and was promoted to Major - General in October . During the First Battle of Ypres , the divisional commander , Major General Samuel Lomax , was killed in action , and Landon took acting command . By the end of the battle in November , he himself was invalided home , and was relieved as divisional commander by Major General David Henderson . He was formally replaced in command of his brigade by Lieutenant - Colonel Richard Butler on 13 November . On his recovery in December , he was appointed Inspector of Infantry , and early in 1915 was appointed to command the 9th ( Scottish ) Division of the New Army . He accompanied it to France , but was replaced in September due to ill health , before the division saw combat at the Battle of Loos . In October he took command of the 33rd Division , this time remaining with the division when it went into combat at the Battle of the Somme in July 1916 . In September he was appointed to command the 35th Division , remaining with it until July 1917 , when his health forced him to retire from active service . From August 1917 to May 1918 he commanded the 64th Division in the Home Forces , finally retiring from the Army on 19 August 1919 . During the war , he was Mentioned in Despatches three more times . After the War , he was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George ( CMG ) . He also received the Croix de Guerre and was appointed a Commander of the Belgian Order of Leopold . References .