Sir Fenton Aylmer, 13th Baronet

Lieutenant-General Sir Fenton John Aylmer, 13th Baronet, (5 April 1862 – 3 September 1935) was an Anglo-Irish British Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross. He was in command of the first failed efforts to break the siege of Kut in 1916. From a military background, Aylmer was commissioned into the Indian Army, and immediately involved in fierce fighting on the north-west frontier. In a singularly heroic action, still in his twenties, he helped rescue Townshend's garrison at Chitral, spearheading the relief column. For his valorous conduct he was awarded the Victoria Cross, and rapid promotion through the officer class.

Early career Born the son of Captain Fenton John Aylmer and Isabella Eleanor Darling. Aylmer attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, as a Gentleman Cadet, in the same class as Reginald Wingate, and was promoted lieutenant on 27 July 1880. He took part in the Burma expedition between 1886 and 1887.

Victoria Cross Fenton was 29 years old, and a captain in the Corps of Royal Engineers, British Army and Bengal Sappers & Miners (British Indian Army), during the Hunza–Nagar Campaign, India when he won the Victoria Cross in 1891 for the following deed:

He was promoted major on 18 October 1893 in recognition of his services during the Hunza-Nagar Expedition, and was part of the Chitral Expedition in 1895. In August 1904 he was made a colonel on the staff. In June 1907 he was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1907 Birthday Honours.

In March 1912, having been promoted to major general in February 1909, he became adjutant general, India, taking over from Lieutenant General Sir Arthur Barrett.

In 1913 he married Lady Risley, the widow of Sir Herbert Hope Risley, head of the Indian Civil Service. She was born Elsie Julie Oppermann, daughter of Friedrich Oppermann.

First World War

Having been promoted to lieutenant general on 11 June 1915, Aylmer was sent to Mesopotamia to take over command of the 7th (Meerut) Division. However, shortly after his arrival, he was put in charge of the Tigris Corps that was assembled as the first effort to end the siege of Kut. Tigris Corps comprised the Meerut Division, the 12th Indian Division, and a number of other smaller military units. All told he had more than 20,000 men. They left Basra in late December 1915 and arrived at Sheikh Sa'ad on 3 January 1916. While the 12th Indian Division (under command of General George Gorringe) made a diversionary move near Nasiriyeh, the 7th (under the command of General Younghusband) staged a direct assault on the Ottoman positions on 6 January (the Battle of Sheikh Sa'ad). to 1917 before retiring from the British Army in 1919.

Following his death at the age of 73 in September 1935 he was cremated at the Golders Green Crematorium, where his ashes remain.

His VC is displayed at the Royal Engineers Museum in Chatham, Kent, England.