| Downe, Viscount | H R | Colonel | Born in 1844 and is son of the 7th Viscount. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, and joined the 2nd Life Guards in 1865, subsequently entering the 10th Hussars as Lieutenant Colonel in 1886, having previously served in the Zulu War with that regiment in 1879, and also acted as ADC to HRH the Duke of Connaught, and commanding the Meerut Division in India from 1883-5; acted as ADC to HRH the Duke of Cambridge from 1892-5, and commanded the Cavalry Brigade at the Curragh from 1897-9. He served throughout the Boer War in 1899-1902 (despatches), and represented HM the King as Special Envoy to the Shah of Persia in 1903. Viscount Downe retired from the Army in 1901 with the rank of Major-General. He married, in 1889, Cecilia, daughter of the 3rd Earl of Sefton.
Source: List of CB recipients. Various sources | Staff |
| Duff | Charles Edward | Lieutenant Colonel | Charles Edward Duff, 8th Hussars. Born in 1858 and commissioned in the 8th Hussars in 1878 he was in charge of a 20 man detachment at Dakka Fort in the 2nd Afghan War. Promoted Lieutenant in 1881, Captain in 1885 and Major in 1893. He commanded the 1st Scottish Horse and then the 8th Hussars in the Boer War. Present at actions at Houtnek, Zand River, Reit Vlei and Belfast. Also present at Johannesburg, Pretoria and Diamond Hill. He was wounded at Geluk. Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in Nov 1900 and placed on the retired list in 1906. Twice MID for the Boer War and awarded the CB.
CB (m), Afghan (0), QSA (5) CC OFS Joh DH Belf, KSA (2), 1897 Jubilee. See Spinks Auction Jul 98 for full size medals. Miniatures, eBay Feb 07.
Source: List of CB recipients. Various sources | 8th (The King's Royal Irish) Hussars |
| Duff | R | Colonel | He was born in 1855. He entered the RA in 1874. In 1876 he married Grace Wood, daughter of Oswald Wood, Punjab Uncovenanted Civil Service. He served in the Afghan War between 1878 and 1879, and was with Lord Roberts at Kabul. Following the Afghan War he joined the Indian Army and was gazetted to the 9th Bengal Infantry later 9th Gurkha Rifles. In 1887 he entered Staff College from which he passed out in first place, returning to India, where he was employed at Army Headquarters first as an Attache and subsequently as DAAG. He took part in the Isazai campaign and subsequently in the Waziristan expedition, including the action at Wano. He was twice mentioned in despatches and made a Brevet Lieutenant Colonel. Following the expedition he became Military Secretary to Sir George White, subsequently to Sir Charles Nairne and Sir William Lockhart. He returned to England to take up the appointment of Assistant Military Secretary for Indian Affairs to Lord Wolseley. In September 1899 he accompanied Sir George White to Natal as Military Secretary and was present during the siege of Ladysmith, as well as the actions at Elandslaagte, Rietfontein, and other fighting which preceded it. Following the siege, he joined Lord Roberts' staff as Assistant Adjutant-General, and was present at the actions of Vet River, Sand River, the surrender of Johannesburg and other actions up to the occupation of Pretoria. He returned to India in the beginning of 1901 as Deputy Adjutant-General. For his services in the South African war he was made a CB. He was appointed Brigadier-General to command the Allahabad district in 1902, appointed Adjutant-General in India and promoted Major-General in 1903. In March 1906 he was promoted Lieutenant-General, on the same day was appointed Chief of the Staff to Lord Kitchener in India, and created KCVO. In 1907 he became KCB and three years later KCSI. He was promoted General in 1911 and GCB in the Coronation Honours of the same year. In 1909 he became Military Secretary at the India Office, a post which he held until March 1914 when he was appointed C-in-C in India, and in the same year he was appointed ADC to the King. At the outbreak of the Great War responsibility for Mesopotamia, important for its supply of oil, was delegated to the Government in India, who dispatched a brigade to the region to protect its interests. When the Ottoman Empire joined the war on the side of the Central Powers in November 1914 the brigade landed on al-Faw Peninsula where the Shatt al-Arab river meets the Persian Gulf. In a rapid manoeuvre Basra, Mesopotamia's outlet to the Persian Gulf was captured, thus securing communications with India. With such little resistance encountered it was considered that more could be achieved. Without informing the government in Whitehall, Sir Beauchamp Duff ordered the C-in-C of the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force, General Nixon, to prepare a plan for conquering Baghdad. To this end the force was strengthened to two divisions. At first the campaign was a success and in September 1915 Kut was captured but in November at the battle of Ctesiphon the British division lost a third of its men and were forced to retreat to Kut where, following a five month siege, General Townsend and 13,000 men surrendered of these, many were to die on the march to, and in Turkish prisons. In June 1917 a Royal Commission reported on who was to blame for ordering General Townsend to advance so far forward. Townsend was exonerated but among those censured were Sir John Nixon, the Viceroy, Lord Hardinge and Sir Beauchamp Duff. The criticism proved too much for the latter and on January 20 1918 he took his own life.
CIE, type 2, breast badge, in gold and enamels, KCVO neck badge (K114), 1903 Delhi Durbar, 1911 Coronation, Afghan (0) (Lieut. RA), IGS 1854 (1) Waziristan 1894-95 (Major Dy Aptt Adj Gl), QSA (5) CC Eland DofL OFS Joh (Colonel I. Staff Corps).
Source: List of CB recipients. Various sources | Indian Staff Corps |
