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Major General Sir Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend KCB, DSO (21 February 1861 –18 May 1924) was a British Army officer who led the ultimately disastrous first British Expedition against Baghdad during the First World War, and was later elected to Parliament. ==Background and pre-war life== Born a descendant of Field Marshal George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend (his great great grandfather) and a descendant of families of Reverends and educators from both parents, he was educated at Cranleigh School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Townshend was commissioned into the Royal Marine Light Infantry in 1881.〔(Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives )〕 He served in the Sudan Expedition of 1884, then on 12 December 1885 he was appointed on probation to the Indian Staff Corps〔London Gazette 18 December 1885〕 and was permanently appointed on the 15 January 1886.〔London Gazette 15 November 1887〕 He went on to serve on the Hunza Naga expedition in 1891.〔 In 1894, while commanding the newly built fort at Gupis, he entertained the visiting George Curzon, "through a long evening with French songs to the accompaniment of a banjo." 〔George Curzon, ''A Viceroys' India: Leaves From Lord Curzon's Note-Book''. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1984, p. 146〕 He was the garrison commander during siege of Chitral Fort in the North West territories in 1895, for which he was awarded the CB.〔 He was attached to the British Egyptian army and, as Commanding Officer of the 12th Sudanese Battalion, he fought in the Sudan at the Battle of Atbara and the Battle of Omdurman in 1898, for which he was awarded the DSO.〔 He served in the Second Boer War becoming Assistant Adjutant General on staff of the Military Governor for Orange Free State in 1900 and then transferred to the Royal Fusiliers later that year.〔 Promoted to colonel in 1904, he became military attaché in Paris in 1905 and then transferred to King's Shropshire Light Infantry in 1906.〔 He went on to be Assistant Adjutant General for 9th Division in India in 1907 and commander of the Orange River Colony District in South Africa in 1908.〔 Promoted to brigadier general in 1909 and major-general in 1911, Townshend became General Officer Commanding the East Anglian Division in 1911, commander of Jhanzi Brigade in India in 1913 and commander of the Rawal Pindi Brigade in India later that year.〔 With the outbreak of the First World War, he was put in command of the 6th Indian Division.〔 This large military force was one of the best of units of the Indian Army – though it was under-equipped by the standards of the regular British army. The 6th Indian was sent to Mesopotamia in early 1915.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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