DIRECTING THE OFFENSIVE

Nelson Evening Mail, 29 September 1916, Page 7

DIRECTING THE OFFENSIVE

LEADERS' IDENTITY REVEALED.

Mr Keith Murdoch, the special correspondent of the Melbourne Herald, in n letter from London reveals the identity of the generals directing the great Briti ish offensive. Mr Murdoch says : "As I I write. General Rawlinson, commander o f the Fourth Army, is taking charge of all operations south of the Ancre, and General Gough is assuming control north of that rivulet. General Gough's job is to hold his position and to hold as many German guns as possible opposite him. Rawlinson's job is to push on. The whole offensive has been in General Rawlinson's charge." Lieut.-General Sir Henry Seymour Rawlinson has been in command of an army on- the British front from, very early in the war, and has rendered distinguished service. He is the eldest son of the late Major-General Sir Henry C. Rawlinson, who was made a baronet in 1891, and succeeded to the title in 1896. Born on 20th February. 1864, he was educated at Eton. Sandhurst, and the Staff College, Cam'berley. He entered the army in 1884, and was A.D.C. to Lord Roberts in India in 1887. He then saw active service in the Burma campaign, and subsequently in the Soudan, where he "was Deputy Assistant Adjut-ant-General to Lord Kitchener in 1898. He was present at the battles of Atbara and Khartoum. and was mentioned in despatches twice. In the South African war he was Assistant Adjutant-General in Natal, and was in Ladysmith when it was besieged. Subsequently he was Assistant-Adjutant-General at headquarters in South Africa, and commanded' a mobile column in 1901-2. He was mentioned in despatches on three occasions. In the present war he has been mentioned in despatches more than once, and war created a Knight Commander of the Bath last year. As stated above, it is Major-General Gough's ta.sk to hold as many German sruns as possible opposite him north of the Ancre. Major-General Gough was ■nlaced in command of the Third Cavalry Brigade early in the war, was specially mentioned by Field-Marshal French, and was promoted to his present rank for distinguished service. Member of a famous family of. soldiers, he is the son of the "late Sir Charles Gough, who won the V.C. in the Indian Mutinv. Born in 1870, he left Sandhurst to join the 16th Lancers ,and won distinction in the Tirah and South African campaigns, being present in the engagements at Colenso, "Spion Kop, Tugela. Heights, Pieter's Hill, and Laing's Nek. He commanded a mounted infantry at the relief of Ladysmith, and was severely wounded. He was a prominent figure in the Curracrh affair of March, 1914, which terminated in the resignations of FieldMarshal Sir John French, .Sir Spenser Ewart ( Adjutant-General), and Colonel Seely, Mr Asquith assuming the latter's post as Secretary for War.