Robert Fanshawe ( British Army officer ) Major - General Sir Robert Fanshawe KCB , DSO ( 5 November 1863 – 24 August 1946 ) was a British Army general during the First World War , who commanded the 48th ( South Midland ) Division from 1915 to 1918 . He was the youngest of three brothers ( Edward , Hew , and Robert ) who all rose to command divisions or corps during the war . Fanshawe joined the Oxfordshire Light Infantry in 1883 , and served with his regiment in India until the Boer War , where he commanded a mobile column and was mentioned in despatches . At the outbreak of the First World War he was on the staff of the British Expeditionary Force , and later commanded a regular brigade on the Western Front , before being promoted to divisional command in 1915 . He commanded the 48th ( South Midland ) Division for three years , including service at the Somme , Ancre , Paaschendale , and on the Italian Front , before being removed from command after his corps commander objected to his defensive strategy . He was relegated to commanding a second - line home service division , and retired from the Army in 1918 . Early career . Fanshawe was born in 1863 , the youngest son of the Reverend Henry Leighton Fanshawe , of Chilworth , Oxfordshire . After attending Marlborough College , Fanshawe joined the 2nd Battalion of the newly formed Oxfordshire Light Infantry , the former 52nd Foot , in 1883 . He spent the next sixteen years with the regiment , primarily on service in India , including the Tirah Campaign of 1897 – 1898 . He was the younger son of three brothers with significant military careers ; Edward ( b . 1859 ) joined the artillery and Hew ( b . 1860 ) joined the cavalry , all three rising to command corps or divisions during the First World War . He entered the Staff College , Camberley at the beginning of 1899 , but following the outbreak of the Boer War , he was sent to South Africa that November , to serve on the Inspector - General ' s staff . He saw service at the Relief of Kimberley and the Battle of Paardeberg , where he was wounded ; later , in April 1900 , he was made adjutant of the 6th Battalion Mounted Infantry . In 1901 , he took command of a mobile column , which he commanded to the end of the war . For his service in South Africa , he was mentioned in despatches twice and awarded the Distinguished Service Order . In 1903 , after the end of hostilities , he was posted to the staff of the 4th Division as deputy assistant adjutant - general , and returned to his regiment in 1903 . He commanded the 2nd Battalion from 1907 to 1911 , when he was promoted colonel and posted as chief of staff ( GSO . 1 ) to 1st Division . First World War . At the outbreak of the First World War , Fanshawe ' s division was mobilised as part of the British Expeditionary Force for service in France . On 20 September , he was appointed to command 6th Infantry Brigade in 2nd Division , replacing Richard Hutton Davies , who had been invalided home due to stress . He led 6th Brigade through the First Battle of Ypres and the Battle of Festubert in early 1915 , where it played a key part in the initial successful night attack . In mid - June , he was promoted to take over the 48th ( South Midland ) Division , a Territorial Force unit , after its commander fell ill . He commanded the division at the Battle of the Somme , the Battle of the Ancre , and the Third Battle of Ypres , then on the Italian Front from late 1917 onwards , including the Austrian offensives of June 1918 . Fanshawe spent a good deal of time visiting front - line units , where he " liked to drift into the trench in an old raincoat so that men were not intimidated " , and would sometimes venture out with a single escort to patrol no - man ' s land . More unusually , he had a habit of giving his soldiers chocolates when he met them returning from the lines or on inspections . Such behaviour scandalised his staff officers , who were privately disapproving of Fanshawe ' s informality with his troops , but it did not lead to the disapproval of his superiors ; in September 1917 , a confidential report by Ivor Maxse , his corps commander , had judged him to be " a good average divisional commander and trainer " . Fanshawe was strongly in favour of an elastic defence doctrine , where a lightly garrisoned front line would delay an enemy attack , and then a strong counterattack would recapture lost ground , and had been training 48th Division in this mould since he took command in 1915 ; the Italian theatre was the first opportunity to put this approach fully into practice . 48th Division was attacked on 15 June 1918 by strong Austrian forces at the Battle of the Piave River ; in keeping with the plan , leading elements fell back and a counter - attack was organised , recapturing the lost ground and stalling the offensive entirely . Whilst a success , this result was greeted with dismay by the corps commander , the Earl of Cavan ; he was a strong believer in a more traditional strongly held static line of defence , and felt that Fanshawe did not need to have given up any ground at all . As a result , Fanshawe was quickly relieved of his command and ordered home , leaving Italy four days after the end of the battle , on 20 June . He was later appointed to command the 69th Division on home service . Through the war , he was mentioned in despatches eight times , as well as knighted . He retired from the Army in August 1919 ; he later served as the honorary colonel of the 1st / 7th Battalion , Worcestershire Regiment . He died in 1946 , aged eighty - three , after falling from his horse . References .