Granville George Algernon Egerton

Major-General Granville George Algernon Egerton, (10 May 1859 – 3 May 1951 ) was a British Army officer who commanded the 52nd (Lowland) Division from March 1914 to September 1915, during the First World War. His wartime service included commanding the 52nd Division during the Gallipoli campaign throughout most of 1915.

Early life Egerton was born at 35 Hertford Street in Mayfair, London, to Colonel the Hon. Arthur Frederick Egerton of the Grenadier Guards and his wife Helen (née Smith), daughter of Martin Tucker Smith of the Smith banking family. His grandfather was the 1st Earl of Ellesmere.

Attending Charterhouse School, he was a member of the house Saunderites between 1872 and 1879.

Early military career Officers of the 1st Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment, at a training camp in Castleton, Derbyshire, July 1904. Seated in the centre of the second row is Lieutenant Colonel Granville Egerton, the battalion's CO.

Serving with the 72nd Regiment of Foot, Egerton participated in the march from Kabul to Kandahar during the Second Afghan War. The British force defeated an Afghan army under Ayub Khan at the Battle of Kandahar, a battle in which Edgerton received severe wounds. For his service in Afghanistan he was mentioned in dispatches.

He was promoted to lieutenant in June 1881. His service continued with the Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882 and the Nile Expedition to Sudan in 1898, where he was mentioned in dispatches twice more. in the Seaforth Highlanders and was Scottish District Inspector of Musketry. In this capacity Edgerton, who in June 1898 was promoted to major, was responsible for the training of regular, militia and volunteer soldiers in Scotland. When an army camp was established at Barry in Angus the rifle ranges were constructed "in accordance with his ideas and under his supervision".

He was promoted to colonel in March 1907 and became commandant of the Small Arms School at Hythe, Kent, taking over from Colonel Charles Monro, a Sandhurst classmate. After relinquishing this assignment, Egerton was then promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier general in September 1909 and became general officer commanding (GOC) of the 1st Malta Infantry Brigade.

He was promoted to major general in December 1912. He then succeeded Major General J. Spens as GOC of the Lowland Division, a Territorial Force (TF) formation based in Scotland, in March 1914, just a few months prior to the outbreak of the First World War. Despite protesting the handling of his command by Major General Beauvoir de Lisle, GOC of the nearby 29th Division (which had one of Egerton's brigades under its command only to suffer heavy casualties), to General Sir Ian Hamilton, commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (MEF), he was instead "reprimanded".

Egerton, removed by Hamilton and replaced in command of the 52nd by Major General Herbert Lawrence, went on to be director of infantry at the War Office in April 1916.

Later life After the war he was colonel of the Highland Light Infantry between August 1921 and 1929.

He died at 7 Inverleith Place, Edinburgh, on 3 May 1951 with his funeral taking place at Warriston Crematorium.