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{{short description|British Indian Army general and recipient of the Victoria Cross}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Francis Aylmer Maxwell
| image = Francis maxwell.jpg
| image-size =
| alt =
| caption =
| nickname = Frank
| birth_date = {{birth date|1871|09|07|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Guildford]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|1917|09|21|1871|09|07|df=yes}}
| death_place =[[Menin Road Ridge]], [[Passchendaele salient]], Belgium
| placeofburial = [[Ypres Reservoir Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery|Ypres Reservoir Cemetery]]
| allegiance = United Kingdom
| branch = [[British Indian Army]]
| serviceyears = 1893–1917{{KIA}}
| rank = [[Brigadier General]]
| unit = [[Indian Staff Corps]]
| commands = [[27th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|27th Infantry Brigade]] 12th Battalion [[Middlesex Regiment]]
| battles = [[Chitral Expedition]] [[Tirah Campaign]] [[Second Boer War]] [[First World War]]
| awards = [[Victoria Cross]] [[Companion of the Order of the Star of India]] [[Distinguished Service Order]] & [[Medal bar|Bar]] [[Mentioned in Despatches]]
| spouse =
| relations =
| laterwork =
}}
[[Brigadier General]] '''Francis Aylmer Maxwell''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|VC|CSI|DSO1}} (7 September 1871 – 21 September 1917) was a [[British Army]] officer in the [[Second Boer War]] and [[First World War]]. He was also a recipient of the [[Victoria Cross]] (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] forces.

==Early life and military career==

He was born on 7 September 1871 at "Westhill" in the Grange, [[Guildford]] in [[Surrey]], the son of Surgeon Major Thomas Maxwell.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.vconline.org.uk/francis-a-maxwell-vc/4587564892|title = Francis a Maxwell VC - victoriacross}}</ref>

Maxwell was commissioned a [[second lieutenant]] in the [[Sussex Regiment]] on 7 November 1891 and promoted to [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] on 24 November 1893. He transferred to the [[Indian Staff Corps]], [[Indian Army (1895–1947)|Indian Army]], and took part in the [[Chitral Expedition]] in 1895 with the [[Queen's Own Corps of Guides]]. In the following years he served on the [[Military history of the North-West Frontier|North-West Frontier]] of India, and took part in the [[Tirah Campaign]] 1897-98 under [[William Lockhart (Indian Army officer)|Sir William Lockhart]], to whom he was [[Aide-de-camp]]. He was appointed a Companion of the [[Distinguished Service Order]] (DSO) for his services.<ref>Hart′s Army list, 1903</ref>

==Second Boer War==
Maxwell was attached to Roberts's Light Horse during the [[Second Boer War]] 1899-1900. By early March 1900 the British had captured the two capital cities of the Boer republics, and the war entered a new phase with a Boer [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] campaign to hit the British supply and communication lines. The first engagement of this new form of warfare was at [[Sanna's Post]] on 31 March where 1,500 Boers under the command of [[Christiaan De Wet]] attacked [[Bloemfontein|Bloemfontein's]] waterworks about {{convert|23|mi|km|order=flip}} east of the city, and ambushed a heavily escorted convoy, which caused 155 British casualties and the capture of seven guns, 117 wagons, and 428 British troops.<ref>N. G. Speed, ''Born to Fight''</ref>

===Victoria Cross===
[[File:Victoria Cross Winners- Pre 1914 VC806.jpg|thumb|Maxwell pre-1914]]
Maxwell was 28 years old, and a [[lieutenant]] attached to Roberts's Light Horse during the [[Second Boer War]] when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC:

On 31 March 1900 at [[Sanna's Post]] (aka Korn Spruit), South Africa,
{{quote|Lieutenant Maxwell was one of three Officers not belonging to "Q" Battery, Royal Horse Artillery, specially mentioned by Lord Roberts as having shown the greatest gallantry, and disregard of danger, in carrying out the self-imposed duty of saving the guns of that Battery during the affair at Korn Spruit on 31st March, 1900.
This Officer went out on five different occasions and assisted, to bring in two guns and three limbers, one of which he, Captain Humphreys, and some Gunners, dragged in by hand.
He also went out with Captain Humphreys and Lieutenant Stirling to try to get the last gun in, and remained there till the attempt was abandoned.

During a previous Campaign (the [[Chitral (princely state)|Chitral]] Expedition of 1895) Lieutenant Maxwell displayed gallantry in the removal of the body of Lieutenant-Colonel F. D. Battye, Corps of Guides, under fire, for which, though recommended, he received no reward.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27292|page=1649|date=8 March 1901}}</ref>}}
Major [[Edmund Phipps-Hornby]], Sergeant [[Charles Parker (VC)|Charles Parker]], Gunner [[Isaac Lodge]] and Driver [[Horace Henry Glasock|Horace Glasock]] also earned the Victoria Cross in this action.

===Later service in South Africa===
Maxwell was promoted to [[Captain (BARM)|captain]] on 10 July 1901. He was appointed [[Aide-de-camp]] to [[Herbert Kitchener|Lord Kitchener]], Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in South Africa. Following the end of hostilities in early June 1902, he left Cape Town on board the SS ''Orotava'' together with Lord Kitchener,<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Army in South Africa - Troops returning home |date=26 June 1902 |page=10 |issue=36804}}</ref> and arrived at [[Southampton]] the next month.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Lord Kitchener′s return |date=14 July 1902 |page=6 |issue=36819}}</ref> He received a [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] promotion to [[Major (British Army)|major]] on 22 August 1902.<ref>{{London Gazette| issue = 27490 |page=6907 | date = 31 October 1902 }}</ref>

==India==
When Kitchener went to India as commander-in-chief in November 1902, Maxwell joined him there as his Aide-de-Camp.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval & Military intelligence - Lord Kitchener´s staff|date=27 August 1902 |page=4 |issue=36857}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27532 |date=6 March 1903 |page=1511}}</ref>

==First World War==

In the [[Great War]], he commanded the 12th Battalion of the [[Middlesex Regiment]] from June to October 1916, and in November 1916, was awarded a Bar to his [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]]. For his actions taking [[Thiepval]], he was given command of the [[18th King George's Own Lancers]], Indian Army in October 1916.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vconline.org.uk/francis-a-maxwell-vc/4587564892|title=Francis A Maxwell VC - victoriacross|website=www.vconline.org.uk}}</ref>

As commander of the 12th Middlesex, and later of the [[27th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|27th Brigade]] of the [[9th (Scottish) Division]], Maxwell came to be regarded as one of the finest combat commanders serving in the [[British Army]] on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]. He was an aggressive commander who was also both an original thinker and popular with his men.<ref name="Bourne2002">{{cite book|last=John |title=Who's Who in World War I|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nfWEAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA202|date=1 June 2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-76752-6|page=202}}</ref>

Despite his rank, Maxwell was frequently at the front line. He was [[killed in action]], shot by a German [[sniper]], during the [[Battle of the Menin Road Ridge]] on 21 September 1917.<ref name="Bourne2002" /> He is buried in [[Ypres Reservoir Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery]].<ref>[http://www.angloboerwar.com/VC/maxwell_f.htm Profile] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908092752/http://www.angloboerwar.com/VC/maxwell_f.htm |date=8 September 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{Lives of WWI | id= 2981570 | name= Francis Aylmer Maxwell }}</ref> The gravestone inscription states: "An ideal soldier and a very perfect gentleman beloved by all his men."

His brother, Lieutenant Colonel Eustace Lockhart Maxwell of the [[11th King Edward's Own Lancers (Probyn's Horse)]], was killed on 20 July 1916 during the [[Battle of the Somme]], whilst commanding the 23rd [[Manchester Regiment]]. He is commemorated on the [[Neuve-Chapelle Indian Memorial]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1448844/maxwell,-/|title=Casualty|website=www.cwgc.org}}</ref>

General Maxwell is commemorated with a plaque in [[St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh|St. Giles Cathedral]] on the [[Royal Mile]] in [[Edinburgh]], [[Scotland]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukniwm.org.uk/server/show/conMemorial.44613/fromUkniwmSearch/1|title=Brig Gen F A Maxwell Vc Csi Dso - Imperial War Museums|website=www.ukniwm.org.uk}}</ref> Maxwell's medals are now held in the [[Imperial War Museum]] as part of the "Lord Ashcroft collection" having been bought at auction for £78,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/aaauctio.htm|title=SALES OF VICTORIA CROSSES|website=www.victoriacross.org.uk}}</ref> His wife, Charlotte Maxwell, published a volume of his edited letters in 1921.<ref>{{cite book|last=Maxwell|first=Charlotte|title=Frank Maxwell Brig. General, V.C., C.S.I., D.S.O. A Memoir and Some Letters|year=1921|publisher=John Murray|location=London|pages=228}}</ref>

<gallery class="center">
File:Ypres Reservoir Cemetery-13 (cropped).JPG|Gravestone in 2015 in Ypres Reservoir Cemetery
File:Memorial to Francis Aylmer Maxwell.jpg|Memorial in [[St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh|St. Giles Cathedral]]
File:Memorial to Francis Aylmer Maxwell (Guildford).jpg|Memorial at [[Mount Cemetery]] Guildford
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*{{CWGC}}

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maxwell, Francis Aylmer}}
[[Category:1871 births]]
[[Category:1917 deaths]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Chitral Expedition]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Tirah campaign]]
[[Category:British military personnel killed in World War I]]
[[Category:Second Boer War recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:British recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:Indian Army generals of World War I]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:Royal Sussex Regiment officers]]
[[Category:People from Guildford]]
[[Category:Indian Staff Corps officers]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:People educated at United Services College]]
[[Category:Deaths by firearm in Belgium]]
[[Category:British Indian Army generals]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Guildford]]

Francis Aylmer Maxwell - Revision history

Bot at 04:11, 7 September 2022