William Macpherson Major General Sir William Grant Macpherson KCMG , CB ( 1858 - October 1927 ) was the colonel - commandant of the Royal Army Medical Corps , and the author of its official history . Early life . Macpherson , the 3rd son of the Rev . William Macpherson , was born in 1858 at the Manse of Kilmuir Easter in Ross - shire , Scotland . He received his education at Fettes College , Edinburgh , & subsequently at Edinburgh University where he graduated in Classics in 1879 ; M . B . , C . M . in 1882 . Whilst at Edinburgh he was a boxing champion & a talented gymnast . With the aid of a scholarship he then further studied at Tübingen & Leipzig in Germany , in Medicine , German & Logic . Military career . Having been commissioned into the British Army Medical Service his first Imperial tour of service was in India , from thence to a 5 year spell with the Gibraltar garrison , where along with his military duties he acted as the Rock ' s Medical Officer for Health . Whilst he was there he also found time to be the Editor of the " Gibraltar Chronicle " and was active in horse - racing and polo matches . Returning to England in 1890 he was appointed D . A . D . G . , A . M . D . 2 at the War Office , a post which he held until 1902 . In 1902 he went on a mission to South Africa in the aftermath of the Boer War to see what lessons could be drawn for the Army Medical Service , his paper : " Detailed Reports on Sanitary Conditions relating to the proposed Cantonments & Encampments for the Troops in South Africa " was resultant . In 1904 he was appointed Senior Medical Officer to the North China Command , & during this posting was attached as an observer with the Japanese Army in Manchuria for 2 years during its operations in that region during the Russo - Japanese War . The results of his experiences produced his " Medical & Sanitary Reports from Officers attached to the Japanese Forces in the Field . " On return to England in 1907 he joined the staff of the Director of Military Operations at the War Office . Tragedy struck in 1907 with the death of his wife , Elizabeth . In 1910 he was appointed as P . M . O . at Malta , also re - marrying this year to Geraldine , the daughter of General Sir John Doran , of Wexford , Ireland . In 1911 he requested & received the appointment as A . D . M . S . to the 4th Quetta Division in India , a post which allowed him to join his only son who was himself then soldiering at the Quetta Imperial Garrison at the time . Whilst in Quetta he also held the post of Lecturer at its Staff College for 3 years . In early 1914 he returned to England in company with Sir Arthur Sloggett as his deputy on Sloggett ' s appointment as the Director - General of the British Army ' s Medical Service at the War Office . Macpherson was in consequence appointed D . D . G . , A . M . S . in 1914 . World War I . After the entry of England into the opening of the conflict in August 1914 , Macpherson relinquished his post at the War Office and entered France on 7 . 10 . 1914 , with the rank of a Brigadier - General in the Army Medical Service Staff , first occupying the post of Advisor attached to the Indian Crops . Whilst with the Indian Corps his only child , Duncan , fell in action whilst serving as a lieutenant with the 7th Gurkha Rifles at Festubert on 23 . 11 . 1914 at the age of 25 , Macpherson had spoken with him last only a few hours previously . This was the greatest sorrow of Macpherson ' s life & he would not discuss the issue ever afterwards . In 1915 he was appointed as Director Medical Services , 1st Army , B . E . F . France . In October 1915 he travelled to Salonika where he held the post of D . M . S . Salonika British Expeditionary Force . In March 1916 he returned to France to re - join the B . E . F . there & assumed the post of D . D . G . M . S . at General Head Quarters , a position he retained thru to June 1918 , when he was retired as having attained the service age limit . His rank on retirement was as a Major - General . During World War I , he was mentioned in despatches nine times , and received honours from France , Italy and the United States . He was known as " Tiger Mac " on account of his energy and thoroughness . He was later appointed colonel - commandant of the RAMC Later life . Macpherson wrote extensively about wartime medical conditions in the Boer War and World War I , including the official " Medical History of the War " ( HMSO 1922 ) , and also edited " Surgery of the War " ( HMSO , in two volumes ) . Prior to the war in 1909 , he translated from German " The Strategical and Tactical Employment of the Medical Service , as Carried Out in an Army Corps ; with a Series of Problems " by Maximilian Ritter von Hoen . He was a reviewer of other published works & frequent contributor to medical & military journals & reference works being composed . From 1921 - 1926 he was the R . A . M . C . representative on the British Medical Association ' s Council , and was a member of the Naval & Military Committee from 1921 - 27 . He was a member of the Savile and the Junior Services Clubs , & also a keen golfer in his later years . He died on 15 October 1927 in London . A funeral service was held at Holy Trinity Church , Brompton , London on 19 October 1927 . He is buried in Brompton Cemetery , London . There is a memorial tablet to him in St . Giles ' Cathedral , Edinburgh . Source : British Medical Journal , obituary , 22 . 10 . 1927