Alexander Cobbe

General Sir Alexander Stanhope Cobbe (6 June 1870 – 29 June 1931) was a senior British Indian Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Early life Alexander Stanhope Cobbe was born on 5 June 1870 in Nainital, Bengal Presidency, British India, the third child and second son of Lieutenant General Sir Alexander Hugh Cobbe and Emily Barbara Cobbe, née Jones. Alexander had two sisters and four brothers; of the latter two became lieutenant colonels in the British Army and one a captain in the Royal Navy. In 1881, he was a pupil at Eagle House School, Wimbledon. He went on to Wellington College and then followed his elder brother Henry Hercules Cobbe to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, from where he passed out in September 1889. At the age of 19 he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the South Wales Borderers.

Early military career The highlights of Cobbe's military career can be tracked by the regular records of his promotions and deeds published in the London Gazette. In March 1892, he was promoted to lieutenant, as well as being awarded the Ashanti Medal with clasp "Kumassi".

Somaliland Campaign In January 1902, Cobbe was granted the local rank of lieutenant colonel and appointed Commandant of the 1st (Central Africa) Battalion, King's African Rifles, and in this post, he deployed with his men to British Somaliland (now Somaliland) to take part in the Somaliland campaign or the "Mad Mullah War". had recommenced raiding and a second expedition, including Cobbe and his men, was mounted against him. On 6 October, while marching through dense bush at Erigo, the British force was ambushed and then rushed by the Dervishes. Although the north face of the square was pierced and a Maxim gun lost, the Yao Company of the Central Africa Battalion recovered the situation. The Diiriye Guure force lost some 700 men and retreated. The British force was not able to continue the pursuit, and returned to Berbera. The Maxim lost during the battle was recovered in the last campaign against Diiriye Guure in 1920, and stands in the Malawi Army's "Cobbe Barracks" in Zomba, Malawi.

Victoria Cross It was at Erigo (or Erego) during this campaign that Cobbe was awarded his Victoria Cross.

Further campaigning Still in British Somaliland in 1903, Cobbe was commanding a flying column ahead of the main body moving against Diiriye Guure. He had orders to secure the water supply at Wardair. Having established a zariba (a camp fortified with a thorn hedge) near Gumburu, he had cause to send forward a company of men under Lieutenant Colonel Plunkett to secure the return of a small scouting party. The company was overwhelmed by a large Dervish force and Plunkett, all his British and Indian soldiers, and most of the Central African soldiers with him were killed. It was a major disaster. Cobbe testified that he had given Plunkett strict instructions not to engage the main body of the enemy and explicitly stated that Plunkett had disobeyed his orders. Cobbe was at the final major battle of the war, Jidballi, on 10 January 1904, but seems to have attracted no mention in despatches. The Somali campaign added two clasps to his Africa General Service Medal: "Somaliland 1902–04" and "Jidballi".

As a further reward for his services, in September 1904, Cobbe was noted for consideration of the brevet rank of lieutenant colonel on attaining the rank of major and in December 1907, immediately after having been promoted to substantive major, he was duly further promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel. In February of that year Cobbe, had been appointed a staff captain at headquarters in India, but that lasted only until February 1908, his new rank presumably deserving a more senior post. In April 1910, he was appointed a Staff Officer Grade 1 and in May 1912 he was promoted colonel with seniority from 2 December 1911 although, when appointed an aide-de-camp to the King in June 1912, he is described as a brevet colonel. In 1911, he was awarded the King George V's Coronation Medal.

First World War

Cobbe's Grade I staff posting in India lasted until June 1914 and three months later he was in France.

In February 1915 Cobbe was appointed a Deputy Adjutant and Quartermaster General with the temporary rank of brigadier general. In a despatch of 14 January 1915 Field Marshal Sir John French, commander-in-chief (C-in-C) of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), mentioned Colonel Cobbe for gallant and distinguished service in the field. A similar mention was published in June 1915 and was soon followed by the appointment of Cobbe as a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 1915 Birthday Honours. In July he succeeded Brigadier General Robert Whigham as brigadier general, general staff (BGGS) of Lieutenant General Sir Hubert Gough's I Corps. In November he was promoted from major to lieutenant colonel in the British Indian Army. In the following month, Cobbe was yet again mentioned in Field Marshal French's despatches for gallant and distinguished service in the field, this time in a list which also included his brother, Lieutenant Colonel H. H. Cobbe, DSO, 13th Lancers.

In February 1916, Cobbe handed over his staff job in France and in March was posted back to India as Director of Staff Duties and Military Training at Army Headquarters, the appointment specifically stating that it was a reward for "Distinguished Service in the Field". Within two months Cobbe was promoted to temporary lieutenant general, and in March 1917, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath.

By this time Cobbe was in Mesopotamia (now Iraq), where he would spend the rest of the war and stay until late 1919. As the commander of III Indian Corps, and was appointed Military Secretary to the India Office in 1920. Promotion to general came in March 1926 just prior to his appointment as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of India's Northern Command. On his return to England he was reappointed in June 1930 as Military Secretary to the India Office.

Honours continued to come Cobbe's way. In 1922, he was appointed Colonel of his first regiment, The South Wales Borderers. In the 1928 New Year Honours, he was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, and in June 1930 he was appointed ADC General to His Majesty. The following month he was appointed Colonel of the Sikh Pioneers. However, a lifetime of soldiering in severe climates and arduous conditions had had its effect and, at the age of just 61, General Sir Alexander Cobbe died on 29 June 1931. He is buried alone in the churchyard of Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire.

Family life

On 1 October 1910, the 40-year-old Cobbe married the 23-year-old Winifred Ada Bowen, daughter of Sir Albert Bowen, 1st Baronet, and his wife Alice Anita Crowther. Sir Albert was the lord of the manor of Colworth, in the parish of Sharnbrook. It is not clear how much time Alexander Cobbe was able to spend with his wife in their 21 years of marriage, the First World War certainly causing them to be parted for long periods, with Winifred mainly staying at Colworth. However, they had two daughters, Winifred Alice (b 1912) and Anne Philippa and a son, Alexander William Locke, known as Bill, born 1919.

As a flying officer in the Royal Air Force, Bill Cobbe was killed on 8 September 1940 during the Battle of Britain.

Legacy

The headquarters of the Malawi Army are named the "Cobbe Barracks" in his honour. They are located at Zomba, the former capital, and are home to what were the King's African Rifles (now the Malawi Rifles).

The medal

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Regimental Museum of The Royal Welsh (The Barracks, Brecon, Powys, Wales).