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{{for|the High Commissioner from Rhodesia to the United Kingdom|Andrew Skeen (Rhodesia)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Sir Andrew Skeen
| birth_date = {{birth date|1873|1|20|df=y}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1935|2|18|1873|1|20|df=y}}
| birth_place =
| death_place =
| image =
| caption =
| nickname =
| allegiance = {{flag|United Kingdom}}
| branch = [[File:Flag of the British Army.svg|23px]] [[British Army]]
| serviceyears =
| rank = [[General]]
| commands = 3rd ([[Abbottabad]]) Indian Infantry Brigade Commander of the Kohat Kurram Force [[Tochi Valley|Tochi]] and [[Derajat]] Columns [[Kohat]] District [[Peshawar]] District [[Southern Command (India)|Southern Command, India]]
| battles = [[World War I]] [[Third Anglo-Afghan War]] [[Waziristan campaign (1919–20)|Waziristan campaign]]
| awards = Knight Commander of the [[Order of the Bath]] [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]] Companion of the [[Order of St Michael and St George]]
| children = [[Andrew Skeen (Rhodesia)]]
| laterwork =
}}
[[General]] '''Sir Andrew Skeen''', [[Order of the Bath|KCB]], [[Order of the Indian Empire|KCIE]], [[Order of St Michael and St George|CMG]] (20 January 1873 – 18 February 1935) served in the [[British Indian Army]], rising to the position of [[Chief of the General Staff (India)|Chief of the General Staff in India]].

==Military career==
Skeen was commissioned into the [[King's Own Scottish Borderers]] as a [[second lieutenant]] on 5 December 1891,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26229|page=6720|date=4 December 1891}}</ref> and promoted to [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] on 2 October 1893.<ref>Hart´s Army list, 1902</ref> He served on the [[North-West Frontier (military history)|North-West Frontier]] of [[India]] from 1897 to 1898 taking part in operations of the [[Malakand Field Force]].<ref name="lh">[http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/SKEEN.shtml Andrew Skeen] Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives</ref> He was deployed to [[China]] in 1900, and promoted to [[Captain (BARM)|captain]] on 10 July 1901 while serving in the [[24th Punjabis]]. From December 1902 he was in [[East Africa]] where he took part in operations in [[Somaliland]] until 1904.<ref name="lh" />

He served in [[World War I]] as a Staff officer to General [[William Birdwood]], [[Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (army corps)|Australian and New Zealand Army Corps]] taking part in the [[Battle of Gallipoli|Gallipoli Campaign]] in 1915. He was mentioned in dispatches with regard to reinforcing [[Anzac Cove]], in full view and reach of the enemy, prior to the [[Battle of Sari Bair]]. {{quote|"The preparation of the ambush was treated as a simple matter by the services therein engaged, and yet I much doubt whether any more pregnant enterprise than this of landing so large a force under the very eyes of the enemy, and of keeping them concealed there three days, is recorded in the annals of war."'' – General [[Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton]].}}

For his service at Gallipoli he was awarded [[Order of St Michael and St George|CMG]] and [[France|French]] [[Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (France)|Croix de Guerre]]. He went on to be Director of Military Operations at India Army HQ in 1916 and then Deputy Chief of General Staff, [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]] in 1917.

He became Commander of the 3rd ([[Abbottabad]]) Indian Infantry Brigade and then Commander of the Kohat Kurram Force in which capacity he took part in the [[Third Anglo-Afghan War]] in 1919.<ref name="lh" />

He served in [[Waziristan]] on the North-West Frontier of India from 1919 to 1920 as Commander, [[Tochi Valley|Tochi]] and [[Derajat]] Columns.<ref name="lh" /> He was then appointed Commander, [[Kohat]] District, India in 1921, Commander, [[Peshawar]] District, India in 1922 and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, [[Southern Command (India)|Southern Command]], India in 1923.<ref name="lh" /> Finally he became [[Chief of the General Staff (India)|Chief of the General Staff in India]] in 1924, and appointed Knight Commander of the [[Order of the Bath]] in the 1925 [[New Year Honours]],<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33007|supp=y|page=3|date=30 December 1924}}</ref> before retiring in 1929.<ref name="lh" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Publications==
*Skeen, Gen Sir A., ''Passing It On: Short Talks on Tribal Fighting on the Northwest Frontier of India'', 4th ed ([[Gale & Polden]], 1939). The 4th edition has an additional chapter (by Maj D.B. Mackenzie) on lessons learned from [[Waziristan]] 1937.

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=[[William Marshall (British Army officer)|Sir William Marshall]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Southern Command (India)|GOC-in-C, Southern Command, India]]|years=1923–1924}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Harold Bridgwood Walker|Sir Harold Walker]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Claud Jacob|Sir Claud Jacob]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Chief of the General Staff (India)]]|years=1924–1928}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Philip Chetwode, 1st Baron Chetwode|Sir Philip Chetwode]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skeen, Andrew}}
[[Category:1873 births]]
[[Category:1935 deaths]]
[[Category:British Indian Army generals]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:Indian Army generals of World War I]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Malakand Frontier War]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Boxer Rebellion]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Third Anglo-Afghan War]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Waziristan Campaign]]

Andrew Skeen - Revision history

Bot at 14:48, 19 September 2022