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Cecil Aspinall-Oglander

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Cecil Aspinall-Oglander
Brigadier General Aspinall in 1918
Birth nameCecil Faber Aspinall
Born(1878-02-08)8 February 1878
Wrexham, Wales
Died23 May 1959(1959-05-23) (aged 81)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service / branchBritish Army
Years of service1898–1920
RankBrigadier General
Battles / warsThird Ashanti Expedition
Second Boer War
North-West Frontier
First World War
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George
Distinguished Service Order
Mentioned in Despatches (10)
Knight of the Legion of Honour (France)
Knight Commander of the Order of the White Elephant (Siam)
Other workHistorian

Brigadier General Cecil Faber Aspinall-Oglander CB, CMG, DSO (8 February 1878 – 23 May 1959)[1] was a British Army officer and military historian, noted for his works on the First World War.

Early life

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Cecil Faber Aspinall was born in Wrexham, Wales, on 8 February 1878, the eldest son of Henry Edmund Aspinall and Kate née Williams. He received his formal education at the Isle of Wight College, and Rugby School.[2]

Military career

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Aspinall was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 4th Volunteer Battalion, East Surrey Regiment, on 12 January 1898,[3] and was promoted to lieutenant before transferring to the 7th (Royal South Middlesex Militia) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers on 19 April 1900.[4] Although the 7th Royal Fusiliers had not yet been embodied for full-time service (it served in home defence during the Second Boer War), Aspinall was immediately seconded for service in West Africa.[5][6][7] He served with the West African Frontier Force in the Third Ashanti Expedition and was mentioned in Colonel James Willcocks' despatch for his good work during an attack on the fortified village of Obassa during the fierce fighting on 30 September that effectively ended the campaign.[8]

After the Ashanti campaign, Aspinall was granted a regular commission as a second lieutenant in the Royal Munster Fusiliers (RMF) backdated to April 1900 but did not join the regiment until October 1900.[9][10] He was seconded for service with the Army Service Corps in the Second Boer War, and served with it in operations in Cape Colony from August to December 1901 and in Orange River Colony from February to May 1902.[11] He was promoted to lieutenant in the RMF on 6 February 1902.[12]

Aspinall was promoted to captain on 2 August 1908 and having passed staff college he served as a staff captain and General Staff Officer Grade 3 (GSO3) at Army Headquarters in India for four years from 26 January 1909. From 1 October 1913 he was at the War Office in London as a GSO2.[13]

First World War

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On the outbreak of the First World War, Aspinall was working as a GSO2 under the Director of Staff Duties at the War Office.[14] In March 1915, he was informed that he would be joining the staff of Sir Ian Hamilton's Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. He was one of Hamilton's most trusted aides during the Gallipoli campaign (1915–1916), where his actions saw him mentioned in despatches six times.[15] On 7 August 1916 he was appointed chief of staff (GSO1) of the 63rd (Royal Naval) Division, involved in the final phase of the Somme operations and the at Arras and Ypres in 1917.[16] On 18 November 1917, Aspinall moved up to be Brigadier-General General Staff of VIII Corps and remained in this role for the remainder of the war. [17]

Postwar and military retirement

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Aspinall retired from the army in 1920 and was employed by the Historical Section of the British Committee of Imperial Defence, researching and writing the text of several volumes of the History of the Great War#GallipoliBritish Official History of the Gallipoli campaign.

Graham & Bidwell write that in 1924 Aspinall-Oglander, assisted by JFC Fuller, then a senior instructor at Camberley Staff College, published on behalf of the War Office “Volume II (Operations)”, which from the context appears to have been an extension of the recent republication of the prewar Field Service Regulations.[18]

During the Second World War Aspinall-Oglander raised and commanded the 20th (East Wight) Battalion, Hampshire Home Guard.[19]

Death

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Aspinall-Oglander died in his 81st year at Nunwell, on the Isle of Wight, on 23 April 1959. This location was long associated with the Oglander baronets. His second wife, Joan Oglander, came from a long line of descendants that had lived at Nunwell.[citation needed]

Publications

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  • Aspinall-Oglander, Cecil Faber (1929). Military Operations Gallipoli: Inception of the Campaign to May 1915. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Vol. I (1st ed.). London: William Heinemann. OCLC 464479053.
  • Aspinall-Oglander, C. F. (1932). Military Operations Gallipoli: May 1915 to the Evacuation. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Vol. II. London: William Heinemann. OCLC 278615923.

References

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  1. ^ "Aspinall-Oglander, Brig.-Gen. Cecil Faber, (8 Feb. 1878–23 May 1959), DL". Aspinall-Oglander, Brig.-Gen. Cecil Faber, (8 Feb. 1878–23 May 1959). WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 1 December 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U234197. ISBN 978-0-19-954089-1. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  2. ^ "LOT 506 Orders and decorations and medals to Brigadier-General Cecil Faber Aspinall-Oglander". Woolley and Wallis auctioneers. April 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2020. The regimentally unique group of orders and decorations to Brigadier-General Cecil Faber Aspinall-Oglander, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., Royal Munster Fusiliers, chief of staff of the Royal Naval Division in France, and more widely known as one of General Sir Ian Hamilton's most trusted aides throughout the Gallipoli campaign, of which he was author of the Official History.
  3. ^ London Gazette, 11 January 1898.
  4. ^ London Gazette, 1 May 1900.
  5. ^ London Gazette, 3 July 1900.
  6. ^ London Gazette, 23 October 1900.
  7. ^ London Gazette, 9 November 1900.
  8. ^ London Gazette, 8 March 1901.
  9. ^ London Gazette, 2 October 1900.
  10. ^ London Gazette, 5 October 1900.
  11. ^ Hart's Army List.
  12. ^ London Gazette, 13 May 1902.
  13. ^ Quarterly Army List, Fourth Quarter 1913.
  14. ^ Monthly Army List, August 1914.
  15. ^ "Islander's military medals sold at auction for £30,000". Island Echo. Ryde, Isle of Wight. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  16. ^ Maj A.F. Becke,History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 3b: New Army Divisions (30–41) and 63rd (R.N.) Division, London: HM Stationery Office, 1939/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-847347-41-X, pp. 117–27.
  17. ^ Maj A.F. Becke,History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 4: The Army Council, GHQs, Armies, and Corps 1914–1918, London: HM Stationery Office, 1944/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-847347-43-6, p. 179.
  18. ^ Graham & Bidwell 1993, p.34
  19. ^ "An impressive set of medals awarded to the official historian of the Gallipoli campaign has sold at auction for £30,000". Woolley and Wallis auctioneers. 1 May 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2020. Medals sold at auction for £30,000 An impressive set of medals awarded to the official historian of the Gallipoli campaign has sold at auction [on 1 May 2019] for £30,000.Brigadier-General Cecil Faber Aspinall-Oglander, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O. is remembered as one of Sir Ian Hamilton's most trusted aides during the campaign, and his actions saw him mentioned in despatches over a dozen times.

Further reading

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  • Graham, Dominick; Bidwell, Shelford (1993). Coalitions, Politicians & Generals. Brasseys (UK). ISBN 1-85753-007-1.
  • Green, A. (2003). "Chapter 5: Military Operations Gallipoli, Part I. Chapter 6: Military Operations Gallipoli Part II". Writing the Great War: Sir James Edmonds and the Official Histories, 1915–1948. London: Routledge. pp. 85–143. ISBN 978-0-7146-5495-9.
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