Edward Bulfin General Sir Edward Stanislaus Bulfin KCB CVO ( 6 November 1862 – 20 August 1939 ) was a British general during World War I , where he established a reputation as an excellent commander at the brigade , divisional and corps levels . He was most noted for his actions during the First Battle of Ypres , when he organized impromptu forces to slow down the German assault . In 1917 - 18 he commanded XXI Corps in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign . Early life . Bulfin was born near Dublin , the second son of Patrick Bulfin and Teresa Clare Carroll . His father was a son of Edward Bulfin from Derrinlough , King ' s County ( now County Offaly ) , and was elected Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1870 . He was educated at Stonyhurst College , and then at Kensington Catholic Public School Although he attended Trinity College , Dublin , he did not take a degree , choosing a military career instead . Military career . Bulfin was commissioned into the Princess of Wales ' s Own ( Yorkshire Regiment ) in 1884 , following militia service with the Royal Irish Fusiliers . He married Mary Frances Lonergan in 1898 ( immediately prior to posting to South Africa ) , with whom he had two children . His career did not advance very much until the Boer War , when he was appointed Brigade Major to the 1st ( Guards ) Brigade . He saw action at several skirmishes in South Africa , but upon his return to England , he abandoned regimental soldiering in favor of a staff career . From 1902 to 1904 , he served as deputy assistant adjutant - general with I Corps , and from 1906 - 1910 as assistant adjutant and quartermaster - general for Cape Colony . After returning to England , he was promoted to colonel and given command of the Essex Regiment , an unusual appointment as Bulfin had never commanded a battalion . In 1913 , he was promoted again , and appointed to the prestigious command of the 2nd Infantry Brigade . World War I . At the outbreak of World War I Bulfin and the 2nd Brigade were transported to the Western Front as part of the original British Expeditionary Force . During the fighting around Ypres at the end of October 1914 , he organized an impromptu force of six battalions ( known as " Bulfin ' s force " ) and led a counterattack to stem the German advance . This action won him considerable praise from 1st Corps commander Douglas Haig , as well as BEF commander John French . In December , he was promoted to command the newly formed 28th Division , and led this formation through the heavy German gas attacks at the 2nd Battle of Ypres , and also at the Battle of Loos . Bulfin fell ill in October 1915 , and spent the first half of 1916 recuperating in England , thus avoiding a transfer to Salonika . He returned to the Western Front in June 1916 to command the 60th Division during the Battle of the Somme , although the division did not play a significant role in the offensive . Salonika and Palestine . In December 1916 , 60th Division was transferred to Salonika , although they remained for only six months and took part in no serious fighting . Moving to Palestine in June 1917 , Bulfin was promoted to lieutenant - general and given command of XXI Corps . He proved a capable corps commander , leading his formation through Ottoman defenses at the Third Battle of Gaza , opening the way for the capture of Jerusalem . He later commanded the corps in the overwhelming victory at the Battle of Megiddo in the waning days of the war . Post war . After the armistice , Bulfin remained in the army in a variety of staff positions , gaining a promotion to full general in 1925 and finally retiring in 1926 . He died in 1939 at his home in Boscombe , Bournemouth , Dorset .