William Hacket Pain Brigadier - General Sir George William Hacket Pain KBE CB ( 5 February 1855 – 14 February 1924 ) was a British Army officer and Royal Irish Constabulary commissioner . He played a key part in setting up the Ulster Volunteers as a unionist militia during the Home Rule crisis of 1912 , and was believed to have organised gun - running . At the outbreak of the First World War he served in command of a Brigade of the Ulster Division and commanding British forces in the north of Ireland . He served briefly as a Unionist Member of Parliament . Early career . Hacket Pain joined the British Army in 1875 , initially serving part - time in the Royal Wiltshire Militia , and in October of that year as a Lieutenant of Militia he passed the qualifying examination of the Civil Service Commissioners . He received his first commission in regular army on 20 November , as a Lieutenant in the 102nd Foot , and then joined the 2nd Regiment of Foot ( Queen ' s Royal Regiment ( West Surrey ) ) on 18 December 1875 . Sudan . From 1888 , Hacket Pain served in the Sudan during the Mahdist War as a Captain in the West Surreys . He took part in the action at Fort Gamaizah ( near Suakin ) , and served with the Nile Frontier Force in 1889 winning the Order of Medjidie Third Class . In February 1891 he was present at the capture of Tokar , in command of a battalion of Egyptian infantry ; his horse was shot from under him . At the end of the war , he was awarded the Order of Osmanieh Third Class which he was given a Royal Licence to wear on his British uniform . Colonial Africa . On 15 May 1894 Captain Hacket Pain became a Major , transferring from the Queen ' s Royal West Surrey Regiment to the Worcestershire Regiment . He accompanied the expedition to Dongola in 1896 , taking part in the operations of 7 June ( in which his horse was again shot ) and 19 September ; on 3 November 1896 he was mentioned in despatches . In 1896 Hacket Pain was promoted from Major to Lieutenant - Colonel . He was still employed with the Egyptian Army , and served in Egypt with the Nile Expedition as an Acting Adjutant - General of the Egyptian Army at their base from 1896 to 1898 . On 27 December 1898 , he married Saidie Merton , an Australian , at Cairo . Hacket Pain ' s wife was from a Jewish family and in 1908 she unsuccessfully challenged her grandfather ' s will which gave her the proceeds of the investment of £1 , 500 but provided that it would be cut off should she marry outside the Jewish faith . South African war . Hacket Pain served in South Africa throughout the South African War of 1899 - 1902 . He was in command of the 2nd Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment from 12 February 1900 to 31 May 1902 , and was Commander of Troops at Rietfontein from October to December 1900 . During the war he took part in operations in Colesberg in January and February 1900 , in Lindley on 26 June , Bethlehem on 6 – 7 July , and Wittebergen throughout July . He was again mentioned in despatches on 10 September 1901 . Hacket Pain was honoured for his service by being made a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 27 September 1901 , and on 10 December 1901 he was promoted as a Brevet Colonel . Back in Britain , his promotion to full Colonel was confirmed on 23 February 1907 , and in 1908 he was placed in command of the South Midland district , in which post he served for three years . He was put on half pay on 21 April 1911 , and left the Army on Retired Pay on 5 February 1912 . Ulster Volunteers . Hacket Pain ' s retirement from the Army coincided with preparations in the north of Ireland for active resistance to Home Rule . At the beginning of 1912 many Unionists had offered their services and begun drilling with dummy rifles , which were considered ridiculous by their political opponents . According to Timothy Bowman ' s history , Hacket Pain was among a select group of senior officers specifically recruited by the Unionist establishment . His appointment as Chief of Staff to Lieutenant - General Sir George Richardson , the General Officer Commanding of the Volunteers was announced in September 1913 . Hacket Pain was English and a member of the Church of England . Under Hacket Pain ' s guidance , the Volunteers were organised and trained in military effectiveness . He insisted , however , that Volunteer units should use their own ranks rather than traditional British Army ones , and reprimanded units which failed to follow this approach . Hacket Pain was fully supportive of the Ulster Volunteers ' political agenda , and made a political speech at a smoking concert for a section of the East Belfast Regiment in Ballynafeigh in August 1914 . Larne Gun Running . Just as the Ulster Volunteers knew they needed armaments , the British authorities were keen to stop them from landing guns on Irish shores . At the end of March 1914 , just as the Ulster Volunteers were readying for an imminent civil war , a Norwegian steamer called " Fanny " was filled full of 35 , 000 rifle s from Germany , and gave its destination as " Öreland " ( sic ) . Two English - speaking people were said to be on board . The owners of the ship insisted that the destination was in fact South America , and some connected the cargo with the Mexican Revolution , but on 25 April the " Fanny " ( disguised as the " Mountjoy " ) landed its cargo at Larne , Bangor and Donaghadee having outwitted Customs . The Ulster Volunteers had been given a general mobilisation order on Friday 24 April and made sure that all roads leading to the disembarking centres had been blocked and that key telephone wires had been cut . 500 cars were used to distribute the rifles . According to his obituary in " The Times " , Hacket Pain " was always believed to have planned and carried out " this operation . Timothy Bowman ' s history notes that Hacket Pain was given the credit but that Fred Crawford , who organised the shipment , regarded him as a ' dove ' in the ruling councils of the Volunteers . However it is known that Hacket Pain wrote to Crawford in January 1914 asking for a statement of the arms which Crawford had already imported , and requesting Crawford to undertake further gun - running if authorised by Edward Carson . After their safe landing , he issued a memorandum instructing all units that " in the event of any attempt being made to seize arms , etc . . . . intimation will be given to the officers in charge of the Constabulary that their armed attempt will be promptly and firmly resisted . " First World War . Ulster Volunteers preparations for civil war were short - cut by the outbreak of the First World War . Hacket Pain re - enlisted in the British Army , and raised the 108th Infantry Brigade ( part of the 36th ( Ulster ) Division ) by recruiting the Ulster Volunteers . The Army welcomed the fact that the Volunteers were trained and armed , and Hacket Pain was appointed on 4 September to command the 108th Infantry Brigade in France . After two years he transferred back to Ireland to command the Northern Ireland district , where he served for three years . As Chief Military Officer he faced the opening of the Irish War of Independence ; in August 1919 he prohibited an Irish Nationalist procession from marching on the city walls of Derry , fearing that grave disorders would occur . However Hacket Pain sometimes resisted pressure . In January 1919 Dawson Bates wrote to Sir James Craig telling him that Hacket Pain was reluctant to bring out troops against Sinn Féin - inspired strikes in Belfast , or to do anything that might make the workers think they were being intimidated , despite pressure from people Bates described as " scare - mongers " . Irish war of independence . On 1 November 1919 he retired from the Army again with the rank of Brigadier - General , and received the award of Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire . However , he was immediately re - employed as Divisional Commander of the Royal Irish Constabulary in Belfast . Nationalist MP Joseph Devlin complained that this meant the Chief of Staff in Carson ' s army was responsible for protecting Roman Catholics . After riots and the murder of an RIC District Inspector in Lisburn , Hacket Pain put the town under military control in August 1920 . Hacket Pain was reported to have resigned in early November 1920 . Member of Parliament . On 18 January 1922 , Hacket Pain was returned unopposed as Member of Parliament at Westminster for South Londonderry . His election came after the Government of Ireland Act 1920 had provided for a reduction of the number of Members of Parliament representing Ireland , which made it unlikely that Hacket Pain would have a long Parliamentary career . He made his maiden , and only , speech on 10 May 1922 in support of the Constabulary ( Ireland ) Bill . Hacket Pain served on the Standing Committee examining the Bill . Death . Retiring at the general election in October 1922 , Hacket Pain lived at the United Services Club in Pall Mall for a short time . In October 1923 he was taken ill and became a patient at King Edward VII Convalescent Home for Officers at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight . He died there on 14 February 1924 , and was buried at Whippingham on 18 February .