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Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Gerard Evelyn Leachman CIE DSO (27 July 1880 - 12 August 1920) was a British soldier and intelligence officer who travelled extensively in Arabia. ==Career== Leachman was commissioned into the Royal Sussex Regiment and served in India and in the Boer War. He spent most of his career as a political officer in Mesopotamia, where he was instrumental in pacifying warring tribes to bring stability to the new country. Leachman also made various expeditions further south into Arabia, where he contacted Ibn Sa'ud on behalf of the British government. He travelled as a naturalist of the Royal Geographical Society, but was in fact a British agent. With his dark, Semitic looks and skill at riding a camel, Leachman was easily able to pass as Bedouin and often travelled incognito.〔Omer Tarin and SD Najumddin, 'G.E Leachman and the MacGregor Memorial Medal:Revaluation of the Life and Work of an Arabian Paladin', in ''Durbar: Journal of the Indian Military Historical Society'', UK, 2 parts: Vol 25 No 3, Autumn 2008, pp. 116-125; and Vol 25, No 4, pp. 174-184〕 Leachman's first major expedition south into the Arabian Peninsula was in 1909, during which he was involved in a ferocious battle between the Anaiza and Shammar tribes near Ha'il. He was awarded Macgregor Memorial medal for reconnaissance in 1910.〔Tarin and Najumddin, Vol 25, No 4, pp. 176-179〕 In 1912 Leachman made a second expedition with the intention of crossing the Rub Al Khali, but was refused permission by Ibn Sa'ud when he reached Riyadh and instead went to Hasa. He was the first Briton to be received by Ibn Sa'ud in his home city. In December, 1915, during the Siege of Kut, the British commanding officer, Major General Charles Townshend, ordered Leachman to save the British cavalry by breaking out and riding south. This he did and the cavalry were the only British unit to escape before the fall of the city to the Ottomans. Leachman was close to Gertrude Bell's friend Fahad Bey and fought with the Muntafiq tribal federation. Prior to the conclusion of the war, Leachman was assigned to the 17th Division, which was assigned the task of operating on both the left and right banks of the Tigris in an effort to advance north in order to secure as much territory from the Ottomans prior to the now inevitable surrender of the Ottoman Empire. Leachman was specifically assigned to Light Armoured Motor Brigade on the right bank of the Tigris, ostensibly with a special task to work with local tribes.〔Wilson, Sir Arnold. Mesopotamia 1917-1920: A Clash of Loyalties. London: Oxford University Press, 1931. p. 11〕 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「Gerard Leachman」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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