Hugh Elles

Lieutenant-General Sir Hugh Jamieson Elles, (27 May 1880 – 11 July 1945) was a British Army officer and the first commander of the newly formed Tank Corps during the First World War.

Early life Born in British India on 27 May 1880, Hugh Jamieson Elles was the younger son of Sir Edmond Elles. Returning to England, he was educated at Clifton College, and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, after which he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Royal Engineers in June 1899. He served in South Africa during the latter part of the Second Boer War and then undertook regimental duty in Aldershot. In 1913 he attended the Staff College, Camberley.

First World War King George V with Major-General Hugh Elles inspecting tanks and crews at Sautricourt, 10 August 1918.

On the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, he was posted to the staff of the 4th Division and departed for France soon afterwards. He served at Le Cateau, then took part in the Retreat to the Seine and the battle of the Aisne, where the Imperial German Army was halted. He then moved north with the British Expeditionary Force to Flanders, taking part in the Battle of Armentières in October 1914. In February 1915, he was promoted to brevet major and the next month became the brigade major of the 10th Infantry Brigade. He was wounded during the brigades' counterattack, on 25 April 1915, during the Second Battle of Ypres.

In August 1915, after recovering from his injuries, Elles was one of three officers specially selected by General Sir William Robertson, soon to be Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), the professional head of the British Army, to liaise with troops at the front and pass the information directly to the British General Headquarters (GHQ). He was promoted to major in November 1915. In January 1916, as a general staff officer (GSO), Elles was sent by General Sir Douglas Haig, the commander-in-chief of the BEF on the Western Front, to investigate the first tanks or "caterpillars" being built in England. He attended the first trials of "Mother" and reported back to Haig on its success. During the summer of 1916, Elles, who in June had been awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), was tasked to report back from the Somme, where the tanks were first used. He was made a general staff officer, grade 1 in June 1916 and was granted the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel while holding the appointment. Promoted to the temporary rank of colonel, Elles was appointed to head the Heavy Branch (the first tank units) of the Machine Gun Corps in France on 29 September 1916. Elles, promoted to brevet colonel in June 1918, continued to command the Tank Corps until Germany's surrender in November 1918.

Later career After the war, and after being promoted to substantive colonel in July 1919, he commanded the Tank Corps Training Centre from 1919 to 1923 He then commanded the 9th Infantry Brigade being posted to HQ Eastern Command as Chief of Staff in August 1926.

In May 1930 he was appointed director of military training at the War Office and then, in 1933, became general officer commanding of the 42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division, a Territorial Army formation, although this only lasted for a few months.