Major-General Sir Henry John Milnes Macandrew, (7 August 1866 – 16 July 1919) was a British Indian Army officer who fought in the Boer War and First World War, rising to command cavalry divisions on the Western Front and in the Sinai and Palestine campaign.
Predominantly serving in the cavalry and also as an intelligence officer, Macandrew fought through the Tirah campaign in India in 1897 and 1898, and then served as a staff officer during the Boer War, participating in several battles and receiving the Distinguished Service Order. He was given command of the 5th Bengal Cavalry in 1914, and upon the outbreak of the First World War travelled to France as general staff officer grade 1 of the 1st Indian Cavalry Division. Soon afterwards he was promoted to become brigadier-general general staff for the Indian Cavalry Corps, with which he participated in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle.
Macandrew assumed command of the 2nd Indian Cavalry Division in 1916, leading it during the Battle of the Somme and the Battle of Cambrai with limited success. In 1918 he was given command of the newly created 5th Cavalry Division for service in the Sinai and Palestine campaign. He commanded the division throughout the campaign, including at the Capture of Damascus and the Battle of Aleppo. In the spearhead of the advance, his division travelled in thirty-eight days. Knighted in 1919, Macandrew stayed with the 5th Cavalry Division at Aleppo. He died of wounds he received in an accidental explosion of petrol fumes there later in the year.
Military career Early service Henry John Milnes Macandrew was born on 7 August 1866, the son of Sir Henry Macandrew of Aisthorpe, Inverness. Macandrew was educated at the Inverness College before he joined the British Army on 6 August 1884 as a lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion, Cameron Highlanders. He transferred to the Lincolnshire Regiment on 10 November 1886.
Macandrew began an eighteen-month period of probationary service in the Bengal Staff Corps on 30 March 1888, serving as a squadron officer in the 5th Bengal Cavalry of the British Indian Army. On 22 November 1889 he was admitted to the Bengal Staff Corps as a lieutenant, having completed his probationary period, and continued with the 5th Bengal Cavalry. On 13 May the following year he was appointed as the regiment's adjutant.
Macandrew served as transport officer to Brigadier-General Alfred Gaselee's 2nd Brigade in the Tirah campaign between 1897 and 1898, and was promoted to captain on 10 November 1897. For his service in this campaign, Macandrew was mentioned in despatches and awarded the India Medal with two clasps.
Boer War Macandrew continued serving in India until 1900 when he was transferred to South Africa to fight in the Boer War. From February he operated in the Orange Free State with Kitchener's Horse. He was present at the Battle of Paardeberg between 17 and 26 February, the Battle of Poplar Grove on 7 March, and the Battle of Driefontein on 10 March. After several other skirmishes, Macandrew moved to serve in the Transvaal in May, seeing action at the Battle of Doornkop on 29 May and being present at the occupation of Pretoria on 4 June.
Macandrew was subsequently appointed intelligence officer on the Delagoa line, east of Pretoria, in July, in which role he continued until September. At this stage he was assigned as the deputy assistant adjutant-general intelligence (DAAGI) to Major-General Ralph Arthur Penrhyn Clements's column, serving in the Transvaal and to the west of Pretoria. On 29 November Macandrew was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) "in recognition of services during the operations in South Africa"; he continued as DAAGI into 1901, moving in February to serve Major-General Neville Lyttelton in the same position.
Having served in operations in the Transvaal, Orange River Colony, and Cape Colony, Macandrew was then promoted to serve Major-General Bruce Hamilton as DAAGI army headquarters staff in May. He stayed in this role until the end of the war, relinquishing his position on 31 May 1902. For his services in the Boer War, Macandrew received the Queen's South Africa Medal with four clasps, the King's South Africa Medal with two clasps, and was mentioned in despatches a further two times. He travelled to England where, on 24 October, Edward VII presented him with his DSO.
Return to India Macandrew's lengthy service as a staff officer during the Boer War led him to be considered qualified for formal staff employment after his return to India. On 2 May 1903, he was appointed a station staff officer, 1st class, but he stayed in this position for only a short while. He was instead appointed brigade major to the Inspector-General of Cavalry in India, Major-General Douglas Haig, on 16 November. Haig chose Macandrew because he had worked with him in the Boer War and been impressed by his intelligence work. The appointment was meant to be for only one year, but Haig had Macandrew stay on until 1905. He was promoted to major on 10 November 1904.
After his appointment with Haig ended, Macandrew continued on as a staff officer, becoming a deputy assistant quartermaster-general at Headquarters, India, on 6 January 1906. Still with the 5th Bengal Cavalry, Macandrew was subsequently promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 10 November 1912 and assumed command of the regiment on 16 February 1914.
Western Front Staff work When the First World War began in the summer of 1914, Macandrew was assigned to serve on the Western Front in France as a general staff officer, grade 1 (GSO1) to Major-General Michael Rimington, commander of the 1st Indian Cavalry Division. They arrived on 7 November and subsequently the Indian Cavalry Corps was formed on 18 December, with Rimington in command. He brought Macandrew, who was promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier general at the same time, with him as his brigadier general, general staff (BGGS), essentially his chief of staff, of the corps. In April 1915 Macandrew visited Haig, who was now a full general and in command of the First Army of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), at his headquarters; Macandrew criticised how his cavalry had been utilised during the recent Battle of Neuve Chapelle and disagreed with the view of other staff officers that the war would continue and be won through trench warfare. He believed that the ability to correctly utilise cavalry was a key facet to any successful general officer.
Macandrew's position as a brigadier general was a temporary rank, and he was still a substantive lieutenant colonel, until he was promoted to brevet colonel on 3 June. The historian Simon Robbins argues that Macandrew's staff work for the corps was sub-par, with his requirement that all orders to divisions be personally approved by him stifling initiative and creating backlogs. The historian George Morton-Jack says that his work improved, and he succeeded in creating an operational headquarters for the corps after an "uncertain start".
Command Macandrew fell out with Rimington in September and left his staff on 8 October. He thus relinquished his temporary rank of brigadier general, reverting to his brevet colonelcy. Macandrew was still well thought of by Haig, and the latter quickly appointed him to a new command. On 16 November, he was re-promoted to temporary brigadier general and given the 9th (Sirhind) Brigade, replacing Major General William Walker after his promotion. He stayed with the 9th only briefly, moving to the 53rd Infantry Brigade on 28 November. This brigade, part of the 18th (Eastern) Division, did not participate in any battles during Macandrew's command.
Macandrew left the 53rd Brigade on 27 April 1916. He was promoted to temporary major general on 7 May, and given command of the 2nd Indian Cavalry Division at the behest of Haig, now commanding the entire BEF. The division contained the 3rd (Ambala) Cavalry Brigade, the 9th (Secunderabad) Cavalry Brigade and the Canadian Cavalry Brigade. Each brigade was made up of four cavalry regiments.
The Somme
Macandrew participated in the Battle of the Somme in July; his division was tasked by Fourth Army to advance through any gaps created by its advance beginning on 1 July. Little occurred for the cavalry in the next two weeks, before a push from Fourth Army on 14 July opened a route for the strategically important High Wood to be taken. In mid-morning, Macandrew took his division forward to capture High Wood, but the ground was too slippery and Macandrew fell twice during the advance. It was called off and infantry were brought in to make the attack instead.
The military historian Richard Holmes argues that the terrain issues have been overstated at High Wood. He ascribes the failure to poor communication at corps and army level, resulting in Macandrew's force being sent in too late to be effective, and a lack of brigade and divisional initiative which could have overcome it. On 7 September the Cavalry Corps was re-established in France and all the cavalry divisions were put under its orders. As this occurred, Macandrew's division was renamed the 5th Cavalry Division.
Macandrew was promoted to substantive major-general on 1 January 1917. The Germans began to retreat to the Hindenburg Line in March, with the British following up behind them. The cavalry were very active in the advance, with Haig particularly praising an action of one of Macandrew's squadrons where, on 27 March, it drove the Germans out of Villers-Faucon and several surrounding villages. With the retreat having come to a halt, by June the 5th Cavalry Division had returned to trench warfare, based around Le Verguier. The obstacles put up by it were complimented by Lieutenant-General Sir William Pulteney, commander of III Corps, as the best he had seen in the country. In October the division travelled into Belgium to take part in the Battle of Passchendaele but was not used.
Cambrai Macandrew's division next saw action on 20 November, with the start of the Battle of Cambrai. The cavalry divisions were expected to break through gaps in the German line caused by attacking British infantry and tanks. The 5th Cavalry Division was allotted to cross the Dunkirk-Scheldt Canal at Masnieres and Marcoing to capture river crossings over the Sensée near Paillencourt. By the afternoon Macandrew's brigades had reached both Masnieres and Marcoing, and small parts of the division succeeded in crossing the canal. Difficulties arose when parts of the attacking force failed to push the Germans back. Logistically cumbersome, the cavalry was unable to divert to other areas where gaps in the line had been made. The 5th Cavalry Division stayed near the canal overnight and in the afternoon of 21 November again attempted to make crossings. These were broken up by German counter-attacks and in the morning of 22 November the division was withdrawn to Fins.
The advance was called off on 27 November, although the cavalry saw further service defending against the subsequent German counter-attack. On 30 November, Macandrew's division returned to Villers-Faucon, near where the Germans had attacked and retaken Gauche Wood. Macandrew worked with the Guards Division and tank support to push the Germans back out of the heavily defended wood, succeeding on 1 December; it was intended to capture Villers-Guislain beyond the wood as well, but this was not done because of the heavy German defences around it, and the British instead fortified Gauche Wood.
Macandrew, who had observed the 1st Cavalry Division as it failed to break through during the earlier British advance, wrote a report to Haig criticising the communications between the different British units in the attack, and identified a lack of "vigour and determination" in the cavalry brigade and regimental commanders. Haig agreed with Macandrew's assessment. On 1 January 1918 Macandrew was created a Companion of the Order of the Bath.
Divisional reforms