Hew Dalrymple Fanshawe Lieutenant - General Sir Hew Dalrymple Fanshawe , KCB , KCMG , ( 30 October 1860 – 24 March 1957 ) was a British Army general of the First World War , who commanded V Corps on the Western Front and the 18th Indian Division in the Mesopotamian Campaign . He was one of three brothers ( Edward , Hew , and Robert ) who all rose to command divisions or corps during the war . Fanshawe joined the 19th Hussars in 1882 , and after seeing active duty in North Africa became the aide - de - camp to Sir Evelyn Wood VC , a prominent senior officer ; he would later marry Wood ' s eldest daughter . He served with his regiment during the Boer War , and then commanded a cavalry regiment , followed by brigades in the Home Forces and in India . Following the outbreak of the First World War , Fanshawe commanded a cavalry division and then the Cavalry Corps in France , before assuming command of V Corps in late 1915 . He was removed from command in mid - 1916 , however , as a result of political manoeuvering following the attempt to find a scapegoat for the failed attack on St . Eloi in March 1916 . He later commanded the 18th Indian Division in Mesopotamia , and was with it at the end of the war in the Middle East . He retired from the Army in 1920 , and served as the ceremonial colonel of the Queen ' s Bays . Early career . Fanshawe was born in 1860 , the son of the Reverend Henry Leighton Fanshawe , of Chilworth , Oxfordshire . He attended Winchester College and then served in the militia , joining the 19th Hussars in 1882 . He was the middle son of three brothers with significant military careers ; Edward ( b . 1859 ) joined the artillery and Robert ( b . 1863 ) joined the infantry , all three rising to command corps or divisions during the First World War . He served in Egypt with his regiment until 1884 , when he was promoted to Captain , and then in the Sudan with the Nile Expedition until 1885 . In 1890 , he left regimental duties to be appointed as the aide - de - camp to Major - General Sir Evelyn Wood VC , the commanding officer of Aldershot Command . During his time working for Wood , he met his eldest daughter Pauline ; the couple married in 1894 , and would have two sons and a daughter . One son , Evelyn , later commanded an armoured brigade during the Second World War . He returned to his regiment in 1893 , with a promotion to Major , and stayed with them until 1897 , when he was appointed to a two - year term as an assistant military secretary in India . Fanshawe served throughout the Boer War , where he received a brevet promotion to lieutenant - colonel and was mentioned in despatches twice ; following the war , in 1903 , he was confirmed in his promotion to lieutenant - colonel and given command of the Queen ' s Bays . He held command of the regiment until 1907 , when he was promoted to take over the 2nd Cavalry Brigade . After three years as a brigadier in the home forces , he was transferred to India in 1910 , to command the Presidency Brigade in the Indian Lucknow Division . In 1913 , he was promoted to major - general , with command of the Jubbulpore Brigade in the Mhow Division . First World War . Fanshawe was in India with his brigade on the outbreak of the First World War ; whilst it remained in India , he was sent to France and given command of the 1st Indian Cavalry Division , a composite force drawn from the cavalry regiments of the various divisions , in December 1914 . The following September he was transferred to command the Cavalry Corps , though by this point of the war , there was little role for cavalry in static trench warfare , and he moved to V Corps , a front - line corps , in October . During his time at the Cavalry Corps , his son Evelyn . served as his aide - de - camp . At V Corps , Fanshawe oversaw the initial attack on St . Eloi in late March 1916 ; the initial attack under his command by 3rd Division was initially successful , but terrible ground conditions made it hard for them , or for the relieving troops in the Canadian Corps , to hold ground , and after a month of heavy losses , the line stabilised at the original positions . Such a situation would normally result in the responsible divisional commanders being sacked and replaced ; it was 2nd Canadian Division under Richard Turner which had failed to hold the ground , but , for political reasons , the high command felt it impossible to sack a Canadian commander . Instead , Aylmer Haldane , the commander of 3rd Division , was lined up as a scapegoat ; Fanshawe tried to intervene with General Haig , but , as a result , was sacked himself on 4 July . His replacement at V Corps was , somewhat unusually , his elder brother Edward . Later in 1916 , he took over the 58th ( 2 / 1st London ) Division on home service , and in 1917 was given command of the 18th Indian Division , serving in the Mesopotamian campaign . He commanded it through the end of the war , including at the Battle of Sharqat , the final engagement of the campaign in the Middle East . Later career . After the Armistice , Fanshawe was given command of an administrative area in France . He retired from the Army in 1920 , with a knighthood and the honorary rank of lieutenant - general . In retirement , he served as a justice of the peace in Oxfordshire , living near Thame , and was the ceremonial colonel of the Queen ' s Bays from 1921 to 1930 . References .