He served with his regiment in the Second Boer War, where he was present at the Relief of Mafeking and was again mentioned in despatches, but was severely wounded and returned home in 1900. For his service, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).[2]
Staff duties and regimental commandedit
He was back as a regular captain in his regiment in July 1902.[3] From 1903 to 1905 he was chief instructor at the School of Musketry, and from 1905 to 1909 a lecturer at the Staff College, India. He was promoted to a brevet lieutenant-colonelcy in 1909, and appointed a General Staff Officer, Grade 2, at the War Office the following year.[2]
In 1913 he was transferred to command the 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles, and promoted to Colonel.[2] He was in command of the battalion at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, when it was sent to France with 7th Brigade, 3rd Division.[4] On 26 August, at the Battle of Le Cateau, he assumed command of the 7th Brigade when its commander, Brigadier McCracken, was disabled by an artillery shell.[5]
He was severely wounded at the First Battle of the Aisne, on 15 September; his leg had to be amputated as a result, and on recovery he returned to the general staff rather than regimental service. He was made a General Staff Officer, Grade 1 in 1915, and appointed Director of Staff Duties in 1916. In 1918, he took up the post of lieutenant-governor of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, and retired in 1923, having received a promotion to major-general in 1921.[2] He was appointed the Lees Knowles Lecturer at Trinity College, Cambridge for the year 1927.[6]
wilkinson, bird, major, general, wilkinson, dent, bird, 1869, january, 1943, officer, british, army, during, late, 19th, century, first, world, born, 1869, 1869died6, january, 1943, 1943, aged, allegianceunited, kingdomservice, branchbritish, armyyears, servic. Major General Sir Wilkinson Dent Bird KBE CB CMG DSO ADC 4 May 1869 6 January 1943 was an officer of the British Army during the late 19th century and the First World War Wilkinson BirdBorn 1869 05 04 4 May 1869Died6 January 1943 1943 01 06 aged 73 AllegianceUnited KingdomService wbr branchBritish ArmyYears of service1888 1923RankMajor GeneralUnitQueen s Royal RegimentRoyal Irish Rifles Contents 1 Early career 2 Staff duties and regimental command 3 Family 4 Notes 5 References 6 External linksEarly career editDent was born in 1869 the son of J D Bird a captain in the 20th Hussars After studying at Wellington and the Royal Military College Sandhurst he took a commission as a second lieutenant in the Queen s Royal Regiment on 22 August 1888 He was promoted to lieutenant on 1 December 1890 and to captain on 21 April 1897 1 That year he served with the Niger Expedition where he was mentioned in despatches and received a brevet promotion to major on 6 June 1897 His next posting took him to the North Western Frontier of India 2 He served with his regiment in the Second Boer War where he was present at the Relief of Mafeking and was again mentioned in despatches but was severely wounded and returned home in 1900 For his service he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order DSO 2 Staff duties and regimental command editHe was back as a regular captain in his regiment in July 1902 3 From 1903 to 1905 he was chief instructor at the School of Musketry and from 1905 to 1909 a lecturer at the Staff College India He was promoted to a brevet lieutenant colonelcy in 1909 and appointed a General Staff Officer Grade 2 at the War Office the following year 2 In 1913 he was transferred to command the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Rifles and promoted to Colonel 2 He was in command of the battalion at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 when it was sent to France with 7th Brigade 3rd Division 4 On 26 August at the Battle of Le Cateau he assumed command of the 7th Brigade when its commander Brigadier McCracken was disabled by an artillery shell 5 He was severely wounded at the First Battle of the Aisne on 15 September his leg had to be amputated as a result and on recovery he returned to the general staff rather than regimental service He was made a General Staff Officer Grade 1 in 1915 and appointed Director of Staff Duties in 1916 In 1918 he took up the post of lieutenant governor of the Royal Hospital Chelsea and retired in 1923 having received a promotion to major general in 1921 2 He was appointed the Lees Knowles Lecturer at Trinity College Cambridge for the year 1927 6 From 1929 to 1939 he served as the colonel of the Queen s Royal Regiment 2 Family editBird married Winifred Barker in early 1902 the couple had two daughters 2 The eldest daughter was born in Westminster on 1 January 1903 7 Notes edit Hart s Army list 1903 a b c d e f g Who Was Who No 27477 The London Gazette 26 September 1902 p 6150 Edmonds p 419 Edmonds pp 172 174 Home gt About Trinity gt Public Lectures gt Lees Knowles Lectures gt Past Lees Knowles Lecturers Trinity College Cambridge Births The Times No 36968 London 3 January 1903 p 1 References editHistory of the Great War Military Operations France and Belgium 1914 by J E Edmonds Macmillan amp Co London 1922 Digitised copy BIRD Major General Sir Wilkinson Dent 2007 In Who Was Who Online edition Falls Cyril 1925 The history of the first seven battalions the Royal Irish Rifles in the Great War External links editWorks by Wilkinson Bird at LibriVox public domain audiobooks nbsp Military offices Preceded bySir Charles Monro Colonel of the 2nd The Queen s Royal Regiment of Foot1929 1939 Succeeded bySir Ivo Vesey Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Wilkinson Bird amp oldid 1140334584, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
