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General Sir Henry George Chauvel (16 April 1865 – 4 March 1945), more usually known as Sir Harry Chauvel, was a senior officer of the Australian Imperial Force who fought at Gallipoli and during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of the First World War. He was the first Australian to attain the rank of lieutenant general and later general, and the first to lead a corps. As commander of the Desert Mounted Corps, he was responsible for one of the most decisive victories and fastest pursuits in military history. The son of a grazier, Chauvel was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Upper Clarence Light Horse, a unit organised by his father, in 1886. After the family moved to Queensland he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Queensland Mounted Infantry in 1890, and saw service during the 1891 Australian shearers' strike. He became a regular officer in 1896, and went to the United Kingdom as part of the Queensland contingent for the 1897 Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. In 1899 he commanded one of two companies of Queensland Mounted Infantry that were Queensland's initial contribution to the Boer War. After the war, he was closely involved with the training of the Australian Light Horse. Promoted to colonel in 1913, Chauvel became the Australian representative on the Imperial General Staff but the First World War broke out while he was still ''en route'' to the United Kingdom. Chauvel arranged for the Australian Imperial Force to be diverted to Egypt, where he joined his new command, the 1st Light Horse Brigade, in December. In May 1915, it was sent dismounted to Gallipoli, where Chauvel assumed responsibility for some of the most dangerous parts of the line. He took charge of the 1st Division that November. In March 1916, Chauvel became commander of the Anzac Mounted Division, gaining victories in the Battle of Romani in August and the Battle of Magdhaba in December, and nearly winning the First Battle of Gaza in March 1917. The following month, he took over the Desert Column, later known as the Desert Mounted Corps, thereby becoming the first Australian to command a corps, and the first to reach the rank of lieutenant general. At Beersheba in October 1917, his light horse captured the town and its vital water supply in one of history's last great cavalry charges. By September 1918, Chauvel was able to effect a secret redeployment of three of his mounted divisions and launch a surprise attack on the enemy that won the Battle of Megiddo. He followed up this victory with one of the fastest pursuits in military history. In 1919, Chauvel was appointed Inspector General, the Army's most senior post. He was forced to maintain an increasingly hollow structure by politicians intent on cutting expenditure. He was concurrently Chief of the General Staff from 1923 until his retirement in 1930. In November 1929, he became the first Australian to be promoted to the rank of general. During the Second World War, he was recalled to duty as Inspector in Chief of the Volunteer Defence Corps. ==Early life== Henry George Chauvel was born in Tabulam, New South Wales on 16 April 1865, the second child of a grazier, Charles Henry Edward Chauvel, and his wife Fanny Ada Mary, née James. By 1884, Charles Henry Chauvel's station at Tabulam consisted of , on which he raised 12,000 head of cattle and 320 horses. From an early age Henry George Chauvel was known as "Harry". He was educated at Mr Belcher's School near Goulburn, before going to Sydney Grammar School from 1874 to 1880, and Toowoomba Grammar School from 1881 to 1882. While at Sydney Grammar, Harry served in the school cadet unit, rising to the rank of lance corporal. In 1886, Charles Henry was given permission to raise two troops of cavalry. On 14 March 1886, he was commissioned as a captain in the Upper Clarence Light Horse, with his sons Arthur and Harry becoming second lieutenants, while his two younger sons became troopers. The unit escorted Lord Carrington, Governor of New South Wales, when he formally opened the railway at Tenterfield, New South Wales in 1886. Following a series of severe droughts in northern New South Wales, Charles Henry Chauvel sold his property at Tabulam in 1888 for £50,000. After paying his debts, he bought a much smaller property at Canning Downs on the Darling Downs in Queensland. In 1889, Harry Chauvel embarked on a solo tour of Europe, visiting Venice, Rome, Florence, Paris and London. While in the United Kingdom, he watched military manoeuvres near Aldershot in the presence of Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany. Harry resigned his commission in the New South Wales Military Forces when he moved to Queensland, but on 9 January 1890 he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Queensland Mounted Infantry. After completing his examinations for the rank, he was confirmed as lieutenant in June 1890. Chauvel's unit was called up in March 1891 during the shearers' strike that had begun earlier that year. Leading his troops and a small detachment of Queensland Police, Chauvel was given the task of escorting a party of strikebreakers to a station north of Charleville. Near Oakwood, Chauvel's troops were confronted by a crowd of around two hundred mounted sheep shearers. When the inspector in charge of the police detachment arrested four of the shearers who were wanted by the police, the crowd became agitated, but Chauvel managed to disperse the crowd peacefully, and bring his charges safely to their destination. During the 1894 Australian shearers' strike, the Queensland government enrolled special constables rather than calling up the militia. Chauvel was appointed a temporary sub-inspector in Clermont, and later the district around Longreach. On 9 September 1896, Chauvel transferred to the Queensland Permanent Military Forces with the rank of captain in the Moreton Regiment. He was sent to the United Kingdom with the Queensland contingent for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Sporting the emu feathers worn by Queensland units, he marched with the colonial troops through London behind Lord Roberts on 21 June 1897. Chauvel qualified at the School of Musketry at Hythe, Kent, and served on exchange with the 3rd Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps and 2nd Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment at Aldershot. On returning to Australia, he became a staff officer at Headquarters, Queensland Defence Force. 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「Harry Chauvel」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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