Bot at 13:02, 9 November 2022

2022-11-09T13:02:59Z

New page

{{Short description|British Army officer (1861–1924)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Arthur Edward Aitken
|birth_date= 25 May 1861
|death_date= 29 March 1924 (aged 62)
|birth_place=[[Rochford]], [[Essex]], [[England]]<ref name="birth">[[General Register Office]] index of births registered in April, May, June, 1861 - Name: Aitken, Arthur Edward District: Rochford Volume: 4A Page: 176.</ref>
|death_place=[[Rome]], [[Italy]]<ref>Death registered at the Consular Office in Rome - Consular Deaths 1921-1924 Volume 15 "Aitken, Arthur E" age 62</ref>
|image= Aurthur Aitken.JPG
|caption=
|nickname=
|allegiance= [[United Kingdom]]
|serviceyears= 1880−1918
|rank= [[Brigadier (United Kingdom)|Brigadier-General]]
|unit= [[Worcestershire Regiment]]<br>[[119th Infantry (The Mooltan Regiment)]]
|commands=[[Indian Expeditionary Force]]
|branch= [[British Army]]<br>[[British Indian Army]]
|battles=
|awards=
|laterwork=
}}
Brigadier-General '''Arthur Edward Aitken''' (25 May 1861 – 29 March 1924) was a British [[military commander]].

==Career==
Born in [[Rochford]]<ref name="birth" /> in [[Essex]], by the time of the 1871 Census he was a 9-year-old pupil at a school in [[Brighton]], [[Sussex]].<ref name="Census1871">[[Census in the United Kingdom|1871 Census of Brighton]], RG10/1087, Folio 92, Page 50, Arthur E Aitken, pupil, 13, 14, 15 Sillwood Place, Brighton.</ref>

Aitken was commissioned from RMC Sandhurst in 1880 and saw active service in the Sudan in 1885.<ref name=Paice40>{{cite book|last=Paice|first=Edward|title=Tip & Run: The Untold Tragedy of the Great War in Africa|year=2008|publisher=Phoenix|location=London|isbn=978-0-7538-2349-1|page=40}}</ref> He was attached to the [[Indian Staff Corps]], where he was promoted [[Major (British Army and Royal Marines)|major]] on 14 January 1900.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27173| page=1714|date=13 March 1900}}</ref> While in India, he was promoted full colonel in 1911 and afterwards held the temporary rank of brigadier-general.

Following the outbreak of the [[World War I|First World War]], Aitken, as a temporary major-general, led the first notable incursion into [[German East Africa]] at the head of [[Indian Army during World War I#Indian Expeditionary Force B|Indian Expeditionary Force]] B,<ref name=Paice40/> and was defeated at the [[Battle of Tanga]] in early November 1914.<ref name=Chappell12>{{cite book|last=Chappell|first=Mike|year=2005|title=The British Army in World War I: The Eastern Fronts|series=The British Army in World War I, Volume 3|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=1-84176-401-9|page=12}}</ref>

The battle is often known as the "Battle of the Bees" for the swarms of bees that repeatedly interrupted fighting,<ref>{{cite book|last=Farwell|first=Byron|authorlink=Byron Farwell|title=The Great War in Africa, 1914–1918|year=1989|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|location=New York|isbn=0-393-30564-3|page=171}}</ref> with both sides fleeing for cover. Aitken was said to have been overconfident and not to have attempted any [[reconnaissance]] work in the area.

The German defence forces were led by [[Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck]],<ref name=Chappell12/> who held out until the end of the war.

Aitken's troops were routed and retreated.<ref name=Chappell12/> There were delays in publishing the details in Britain. He was removed from his command and ultimately (in August 1915) reverted to the rank of colonel. Later it was felt he had been made a scapegoat for the defeat and in 1920 he was formally exonerated. In November 1921 the Secretary of State for India said in the House of Commons that Colonel Aitken had been retired on full pension with the rank of honorary brigadier-general, backdated to May 1918.

During his final years General Aitken was a prominent local figure in Bath. Because of poor health he spent his final months in Italy and died there suddenly of a heart attack.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aitken, Arthur}}
[[Category:1861 births]]
[[Category:1924 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian Army generals of World War I]]
[[Category:People from Rochford]]
[[Category:Worcestershire Regiment officers]]
[[Category:Indian Staff Corps officers]]
[[Category:Burials in the Protestant Cemetery, Rome]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Essex]]
[[Category:British Indian Army generals]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Mahdist War]]
[[Category:Bombay Staff Corps officers]]

{{UK-mil-bio-stub}}

Arthur Aitken - Revision history

Bot at 13:02, 9 November 2022