David Campbell ( British Army officer ) General Sir David Graham Muschet " Soarer " Campbell GCB ( 28 January 1869 – 12 March 1936 ) was a cavalry officer of the British Army , amateur sportsman , and later Governor of Malta . After home service in Britain and Ireland his regiment , 9th Queen ' s Royal Lancers , was posted to South Africa in 1896 , and on to India in 1898 , though Campbell seems to have spent some of this period in the United Kingdom . The regiment returned to South Africa following the outbreak of the Second Boer War , during which he saw his first action . By the outbreak of the First World War he was in command of the regiment . He led them in two cavalry charge s in the first months of the war ; the second of these saw him receive multiple wounds , one of them from a lance , making him one of the last British casualties of that weapon . In November 1914 he was promoted to command 6th Cavalry Brigade , then in May 1916 came further promotion to command 21st Division . He retained that command for the rest of the war . Post - war , he was knighted in 1919 , and went on to hold further command and administrative positions in the army . He was General Officer Commanding ( GOC ) Baluchistan , 1920 – 24 ; Military Secretary , 1926 – 27 ; and GOC Aldershot Command 1927 – 31 , when he argued for the increased mechanisation of the army . He was then appointed Governor of Malta , and died shortly after resigning that office in 1936 . During the early years of his military career Campbell was also a successful amateur National Hunt jockey , winning a number of major races ; foremost amongst these was the Grand National of 1896 , on The Soarer , which gave him his nickname in subsequent years ( though his divisional staff referred to him as Barbara , for reasons now lost ) . He continued riding in military meets until the end of his army service . He was also a keen cricketer and polo player . Early life and career . Campbell was born on 28 January 1869 , the son of Major H . Wooton Campbell , Cameron Highlanders . He was educated at Clifton College where he was a noted sportsman , in particular playing cricket for the First XI . He then proceeded to Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , also representing them at cricket , before he was gazetted a second lieutenant in the 9th Lancers on 15 March 1889 . Joining the cavalry was an expensive business . A junior officer ' s pay was just £95 a year , but the expenses of regimental living — such as mess bills — meant that a private income of at least £500 a year was required , in addition to a similar amount when first commissioned to buy horses , uniform and other equipment . At the time the regiment was based in Manchester , with a detachment at Seaforth Barracks , Liverpool . In April 1890 there was a major reorganization of British Army cavalry regiments , with the establishment being increased from 488 Other Ranks and 300 horses to 628 OR and 350 horses , followed in August by a further increase to 706 OR and 424 horses . August also saw the regiment move to Ireland , initially to the Curragh , and then Dundalk ; due to the reorganization , the regiment was now seriously understrength , so a recruitment campaign was started . Campbell was promoted lieutenant on 9 December 1890 . Cavalry regiments , in addition to their increase in size , also had their structure reorganized , with the main sub - unit becoming the squadron rather than the troop , each squadron being formed by the merger of two troops . The remainder of their time in Ireland was split between the Curragh and Newbridge . In addition to the restructuring , the regiment was issued with new - style equipment in August 1893 . The regiment ' s tour in Ireland lasted until August 1894 when it was posted to Aldershot ; the regimental history describes the period as " one of the most peaceful and undisturbed in that country before or since " . Over this time , Campbell had begun to make a name for himself as an amateur jockey , and on 9 March 1894 at the Grand Military Meeting at Sandown Park he won the Maiden Steeplechase on The Soarer , a horse he had acquired on the toss of a coin . Later in the year , on 27 November he won the Middlesex Steeplechase and 28 November he won the Uxbridge Handicap Steeplechase Plate , both at Kempton Park , followed by third in the Handicap Steeplechase back at Sandown Park on 7 December 1894 , and back at Kempton Park , another win in the Hampton Steeplechase Handicap on Boxing Day ; all these races were also on Soarer . 1895 began rather less successfully , with a fourth on Soarer in the Grand Military Gold Cup at Sandown Park on 8 March , and the next day he failed to finish in the Grand Military Handicap Steeplechase , riding Seaside , which belonged to a fellow 9th Lancers officer . Then on 30 March , at the Liverpool Spring Meeting at Aintree , he won the Champion Steeplechase , again on Soarer . A single day in 1895 also saw him win both the Irish National Hunt Cup ( on Dakota ) and the Irish Grand Military ( on Balbrigan ) . Grand National success . 1896 was his most successful year in sport . On 3 March he also represented the 9th Lancers at Racquets in the Grand Military Championship Challenge Cup . On 7 March he was fourth in the Grand Military Handicap Steeplechase , according to a contemporary report in " The Times " , this time riding Nelly Gray , a horse belonging to an officer from the 16th Lancers . However , some later sources , such as his obituary in " The Times " , state that he won the Grand Military that year , probably based on his own entry in Who ' s Who . Though he had actually sold Soarer to Hall Walker a few weeks earlier , that was still the horse he rode to his greatest victory , in the Grand National at Aintree on 27 March . " The Times " the following day described how he " drew to the front two fences from home and won by a length and half " . It was at this point that " Soarer " became his own nickname . He also repeated his victory in the Irish National Hunt Cup ( this time on Lord Arravale ) ; and in polo , 1896 saw him on the winning side in both the Subaltern s ' and the Inter - Regimental tournaments , a record still unmatched at his death . In 1897 , Campbell tried to repeat his Grand National triumph , once more on Soarer , but he fell on the second lap of the course at the fence after Becher ' s Brook , breaking his collar bone . He is also reported to have won the Grand Military in 1897 ( on Parapluie ) . The 9th Lancers had actually been posted to South Africa in August 1896 , arriving at Durban in September , before travelling on to Pietermaritzburg and later , the then little known town of Ladysmith . A regimental depot had been established at Canterbury , comprising two officers and 106 OR ; it ' s not clear if Campbell was one of these officers , or if he availed himself of what the regimental history calls the " large allowance of annual leave " in order to further his sporting career . The regiment returned to Durban in March 1898 to embark for India . They landed at Bombay ( now Mumbai ) , and travelled from there to a base at Muttra , arriving on 10 October 1898 ; the remainder of the year was spent in exercises around Delhi and Aligarh . Campbell was promoted captain on 3 May 1899 . Boer War . Campbell married Janet Mary Aikman , daughter of Sir Robert Aikman in Kensington in the quarter ending June 1899 , and was still on leave until his recall as the regiment was being mobilised for the Boer War . On 6 September 1902 he was appointed the regimental adjutant , and promoted to Major on 16 March 1904 . Eight years later , on 15 March 1912 , he was promoted to lieutenant - colonel and took command of the regiment . First World War . In the early days of the First World War he led his regiment , with two squadrons of the 4th Dragoon Guards , in a charge at Elouges on 24 August 1914 , as part of the Battle of Mons . He later participated in the final " lance on lance " action of the war on 6 September 1914 at Moncel when he led a charge of two troops of B Squadron of his Regiment and overthrew a squadron of the 1st Guard Dragoons . In this second charge , Campbell was wounded several times ; the medical officer of the 4th Dragoon Guards , Captain Arthur Osburn , found him sprawled in a field of clover and treated him for " a revolver wound in his leg , a lance wound in his shoulder , and a sword wound in his arm " . Despite this , Campbell told the doctor " I ' ve just had the best quarter of an hour I ' ve ever had in my life ! " In November 1914 Campbell was promoted to command 6th Cavalry Brigade , then in May 1916 came further promotion to command 21st Division . He retained that command for the rest of the war . His divisional staff gave him the further nickname of " Barbara " , the reason for which is no longer known . Post - war . After the War he became General Officer Commanding Baluchistan District in India in 1920 . He was appointed Military Secretary in 1926 and became General Officer Commanding - in - Chief for Aldershot Command in 1927 . He went on to be Governor and Commander - in - Chief Malta from 1931 to 1936 . His governorship was a stressful time . Political tensions between pro - British and pro - Italian parties on the island led to him dissolving the elected assembly and returning Malta to direct rule , a situation which would last until after the Second World War . Ill - health forced him to resign in 1936 , and he died shortly afterwards , on 12 March 1936 . External links .