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{{Short description|British Army general}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{EngvarB|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Sir James Willcocks
| image = Sir James Willcocks.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Sir James Willcocks
| nickname =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1857|04|01|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Baraut]], India
| death_date = {{death date and age|1926|12|18|1857|4|1|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Bharatpur, Rajasthan|Bharatpur]], India
| placeofburial =
| allegiance = United Kingdom
| branch = [[British Army]]
| serviceyears = 1878–1922
| rank = [[General (United Kingdom)|General]]
| unit =
| commands = [[Indian Corps]] [[Northern Command (India)|Northern Army, India]] [[Belgaum district]] [[West African Frontier Force]]
| battles = [[War of the Golden Stool]] [[Second Afghan War]] [[Second Boer War]] [[Bazar Valley campaign]] [[First World War]]
| awards = [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]] [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George]] [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India]] [[Distinguished Service Order]]
| relations =
| laterwork =
}}
[[General (United Kingdom)|General]] '''Sir James Willcocks''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GCB|GCMG|KCSI|DSO}} (1 April 1857 – 18 December 1926) was a [[British Army]] officer who spent most of his career in India and Africa and held high command during the [[First World War]].

==Early life and education==
Willcocks was born in [[Baraut]], [[Meerut District]], [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Provinces]], [[India]], the son of an officer in the [[Honourable East India Company|East India Company's]] army. He was educated in England and passed out from the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst]], in January 1878 (having only got in on the third attempt), being commissioned into the [[100th (Prince of Wales's Royal Canadian) Regiment of Foot|100th Foot]] in the [[Punjab (British India)|Punjab]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=24547 |date=29 January 1878 |page=461}}</ref>

[[File:HMS Malabar (1865).jpg|thumb|HMS Malabar, the troopship aboard which Willcocks returned to India as a subaltern]]
==Military career as a company and field officer==
In late 1879, shortly after being promoted lieutenant,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=24798 |date=6 January 1880 |page=50}}</ref> Willcocks persuaded his superiors to send him to the [[Second Afghan War]] (although his regiment was not engaged there), where he served as a transport officer. In 1881 he again served as a transport officer in the [[Mahsud Waziri]] expedition, rejoining his regiment the following year. In 1884 he was seconded to the newly formed [[Army Transport Department]] and posted to [[Assam]]. He was promoted [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] in what was by now the [[Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment]] in August 1884.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=25401 |date=3 October 1884 |page=4333}}</ref> He served in the [[Sudan]] in 1885–1886 and then returned to Assam before serving in [[Burma]] in 1886, for which he was awarded the [[Distinguished Service Order]] (DSO).<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=25761 |date=25 November 1887 |page=6374}}</ref> In December 1887 he was offered a permanent transfer to the [[Commissariat and Transport Department]], but declined in favour of the [[adjutant]]cy of the 1st Battalion of his regiment.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=25789 |date=21 February 1888 |page=1155}}</ref>

[[File:General Sir James Willcocks, KCMG, DSO, and staff, at the entrance to the fort at Kumasi.jpg|thumb|General Sir James Willcocks, K.C.M.G., D.S.O., and staff, at the entrance to the fort at Kumasi]]

In 1889 Willcocks served as an [[intelligence officer]] in the [[Chin-Lushai]] expedition and in 1891 in the [[Manipur]] expedition. In June 1897 he was appointed assistant [[adjutant-general]] of the [[Baluchistan Agency|Baluchistan]] field force, and in November 1897 [[second-in-command]] of the new [[West African Frontier Force]] as a temporary [[lieutenant-colonel]],<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=26931 |date=21 January 1898 |page=378}}</ref> under the command of [[Frederick Lugard, 1st Baron Lugard|Frederick Lugard]]. He was appointed [[Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George]] (CMG) in the [[1899 New Year Honours]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27038 |date=2 January 1899 |page=2 |supp=y}}</ref> In November 1899 he was promoted substantive lieutenant-colonel<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27132 |date=3 November 1899 |page=6603}}</ref> (having received his [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] in May 1898).<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27094 |date=30 June 1899 |page=4074}}</ref> On the 23 September 1899 Willcocks is recorded as being aboard the British and African Steam Navigation Company Royal Mail ship SS Bornu, embarking from Liverpool with the destination being [[Forçados]]. He was accompanied aboard ship by a number of officers who took part in the [[War of the Golden Stool]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=25 September 1899|title=The Liverpool Mercury, 25 September 1899|work=The Liverpool Mercury|url-status=live}}</ref>

Colonel Lugard became High Commissioner following the proclamation of the new [[Northern Nigeria Protectorate|Protectorate of Northern Nigeria]] on 1 January 1900, and Willcocks succeeded him as [[colonel-commandant]] of the Frontier Force, being granted the local rank of [[colonel]] on the same day.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27156 |date=23 January 1900 |page=431}}</ref> For his relief of [[Kumasi]] during the [[Anglo-Ashanti wars|Ashanti War]] of 1900, Willcocks was appointed [[Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George]] (KCMG) and promoted to brevet colonel.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27214 |date=27 July 1900 |page=4656}}</ref>

==Military career as a general officer==
[[File:Gen. Sir James Willcocks and his personal staff (Photo 24-186).jpg|thumb|left|General Sir James Willcocks and his personal staff in July 1915]]
[[File:2-4 Bn East Yorkshire Regiment and General Sir James Willcocks Hamilton Bermuda 1917.jpg|thumb|2/4 Bn [[East Yorkshire Regiment]] and General Sir James Willcocks in [[Hamilton, Bermuda]] in 1917]]
In early January 1902, Willcocks received orders to go to South Africa, and issued a statement to say how welcome he found this order, as he had never before been unemployed.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The War – Departure of Sir James Willcocks|date=24 January 1902 |page=9 |issue=36673}}</ref> He was graded as a colonel on the staff while employed on special service in South Africa.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27405|page=847|date=11 February 1902}}</ref>

After serving only a couple of weeks in the late stages of the [[Second Boer War]], Willcocks was transferred to India in late February, to assume command of the [[Belgaum district]].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Latest intelligence – The War – Sir James Willcocks|date=22 February 1902 |page=7 |issue=36698}}</ref> He was promoted to the substantive rank of colonel on 29 March 1902,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27486 |date=21 October 1902 |page=6652}}</ref> on the day he took up command with the temporary rank of [[Brigadier-general (British Army)|brigadier-general]] while so employed.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27456 |date=22 July 1902 |page=4673 }}</ref> He was promoted [[major-general]] and given a [[brigade]] in 1906,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27974 |date=7 December 1906 |page=8648}}</ref> commanded the [[Bazar Valley]] Field Force against the Zakka Khel clan of the [[Afridi (Pashtun)|Afridi]] in February and March 1908, was given command a [[division (military)|division]] in March 1908<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=228121 |date=20 March 1908 |page=2169}}</ref> and promoted [[lieutenant-general]] for distinguished service in the field following his command of the [[Mohmand]] Field Force in July 1908.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=28168 |date=14 August 1908 |page=6066 |supp=y}}</ref> He was appointed [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]] (CB) in the [[1907 Birthday Honours]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=28034 |date=25 June 1907 |page=4430 |supp=y}}</ref> In October 1910 he was appointed to the command of the [[Northern Command (India)|Northern Army]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=28437 |date=15 November 1910 |page=8181}}</ref> In the [[1913 New Year Honours]] he was appointed [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India]] (KCSI).<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=28677 |date=31 December 1912 |page=2 |supp=y}}</ref> He was appointed [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]] (KCB) in 1914.

In 1914 Willcocks was given command of the [[Indian Corps]] in France. He was appointed [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George]] (GCMG) in the [[1915 Birthday Honours]],<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=29202 |date=22 June 1915 |page=6113 |supp=y}}</ref> and was promoted general in May 1915,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=29459 |date=1 February 1916 |page=1326 |supp=y}}</ref> but resigned in September 1915 after friction with [[Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig|Sir Douglas Haig]], who commanded the [[British First Army|First Army]].

Willcocks was given the colonelcy of [[The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire)]] from 1916 until his death.<ref> {{cite web|url=http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/047Loyal.htm |title=The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) |publisher=regiments.org |access-date=4 December 2016 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071218193222/http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/047Loyal.htm |archive-date=18 December 2007 }} </ref>

==Governor of Bermuda and General Officer Commanding Bermuda, retirement and death==
In May 1917, Willcocks was appointed [[Governor of Bermuda|Governor]] and [[General Officer Commanding]] the [[Imperial fortress]] of [[Bermuda]] (where a large [[Bermuda Garrison]] protected the [[Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda|Royal Naval Dockyard]] and other strategic assets),<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=30069 |date=15 May 1917 |page=4648}}</ref> being sworn in by the [[Chief Justice of Bermuda]] at the entrance to the [[Senate of Bermuda|Council]] Chambers in [[Hamilton, Bermuda|Hamilton]] on 2 June 1917.<ref>{{Cite news |title=HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR TAKES THE OATHS OF OFFICE |date=1917-06-05 |work=The Royal Gazette |location=Bermuda}}</ref>

Serving under Willcocks in Bermuda as General Staff Officer, 2nd Grade, was his son, Major James Lugard Willcocks, DSO, MC (1893–1963) of the [[Black Watch]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=THE MONTHLY ARMY LIST FOR DECEMBER, 1919 |date=1919-11-27 |publisher=British Government |language=en |page=86}}</ref> His granddaughter (the daughter of James Lugard Willcocks and his wife, Muriel Kathleen Price, the daughter of the late Colonel Gordon Price, I.M.S.), Wendy Winifred Willcocks, was born at Bermuda on 15 November 1919.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://gwulo.com/node/12654 |title=James Lugard WILLCOCKS (1893-1963) |website=Gwulo: Old Hong Kong |publisher=Gwulo: Old Hong Kong |language=en}}</ref>

The [[Depot ship#Regulations|depot ship]] at the Royal Naval Dockyard Bermuda at the time was the old troopship [[HMS Malabar (1866)|HMS Malabar]], which had been assigned to that role in 1897 and was renamed HMS ''Terror'' (the name of her [[HMS Terror (1856)|predecessor]] as depot ship) in 1901. She was placed on the sale list in 1914 and was sold in 1918. She was the first ship Willcocks saw at Bermuda when he arrived in 1917. Shortly after visiting her alongside the wharf at Front Street in the city of Hamilton, he wrote a letter for the ''Royal Gazette'' newspaper (dated 3 September 1918 and published on the front page on 7 September 1918) in which he fondly recalled his passage to India aboard her when he was a subaltern at the start of his career as a military officer.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Memories of the old Malabar: H.E. the Governor Visits the Famous Indian Troopship as she Lies off Front Street and Tells of his experiences Aboard her in the ByGone Days |date=1919-09-07 |work=The Royal Gazette |location=Bermuda}}</ref> Willcocks also memorably was carried aloft in the first flight over Bermuda (by a Burgess-built [[Curtiss Jenny|Curtiss N-9H Jenny]] floatplane (A2646) of the United States Navy from the former [[USS Elinor]]) on 22 May 1919 (strictly the second flight: US Navy Ensigns G. L. Richard and W. H. Cushing flew the seaplane from Murray's Anchorage to [[Hamilton Harbour]], where they set down to collect Willcocks, who took Cushing's place in the two-seater). Willcocks dropped a message of goodwill to the people of Bermuda, which was Bermuda's first air mail.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Partridge |first1=Ewan |last2=Singfield |first2=Tom |title=WINGS OVER BERMUDA: 100 Years of Aviation in the West Atlantic |date=2014 |publisher=National Museum of Bermuda Press |location=Royal Naval Dockyard, Ireland Island, Sandys, Bermuda |isbn=978-1-927750-32-2 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bermuda.com/first-plane-to-fly-over-bermuda |title=100th Anniversary – The First Plane To Fly Over Bermuda – May 22, 1919 |website=Bermuda.com |date=22 May 2019 |publisher=Bermuda.com Limited |language=en}}</ref> Willcocks was also a passenger in the first descent by a submarine in local waters. He was the life patron of the Bermuda War Veterans Society.<ref>{{Cite news |title=War Veterans and General Wilcocks |date=1926-12-22 |work=The Royal Gazette |page=1 |location=Bermuda}}</ref>

He served in these posts until 1922. He was appointed [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]] (GCB) in the [[1921 Birthday Honours]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=32346 |date=4 June 1921 |page=4532 |supp=y}}</ref> He authored his memoirs ''The Romance of Soldiering and Sport'', which was published in 1925.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Willcocks|first=Sir James|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZpC3AAAAMAAJ|title=The Romance of Soldiering and Sport|date=1925|publisher=Cassell|language=en}}</ref> He later returned to India and died at [[Bharatpur, Rajasthan|Bharatpur]] in 1926.

==Personal life==
Willcocks married Winifred Way, the second daughter of Colonel [[George Augustus Way]], CB, BSC, on 29 July 1889, at Calcutta. James Lugard Willcocks, born 5 January 1893, in Delhi, was their only child.

==Death==
Willcocks died at Moti Hahal Palace, Bharatpur, Rajputana, India, on 18 December 1926. News of his death was received at Bermuda on 21 December. A ball scheduled to take place that evening at [[Government House, Bermuda|Government House]] was postponed until 23 December.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Government House |date=1926-12-21 |work=The Royal Gazette |page=1 |location=Bermuda}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Government house |date=1926-12-22 |work=The Royal Gazette |page=1 |location=Bermuda}}</ref> The [[Senate of Bermuda|Legislative council]] was sitting, but limited business to one matter other than sending a letter to the Governor asking that the council's sympathies be expressed to Lady Willcocks.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Legislative Council |date=1926-12-22 |work=The Royal Gazette |page=1 |location=Bermuda}}</ref> The [[House of Assembly of Bermuda]] also sent a message to the Governor, on the motion of Major [[Thomas Melville Dill]], MCP, asking that the profound regret of the Legislature and people of Bermuda and an expression of sympathy be sent to Lady Willcocks by the [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=IN THE HOUSE |date=1926-12-21 |work=The Royal Gazette |page=1 |location=Bermuda}}</ref> General Willcocks' final message to Bermuda was printed in the Royal Gazette on 29 December 1926.<ref>{{Cite news |title=A Message to Bermuda from the Late General Willcocks |date=1926-12-29 |work=The Royal Gazette |page=1 |location=Bermuda}}</ref>

{{blockquote|Camp, foot of Himalayas, 
India, 
21st November, 1926. 
 
The Editor, 
"Royal Gazette." 
 
Very Happy Xmas and New Year to all in Bermuda-It was with genuine grief I read of the [[1926 Havana–Bermuda hurricane#Bermuda|fearful hurricane]], which lately passed over your beautiful islands and the [[HMS Valerian (1916)#Loss|great loss of life in His Majesty's Navy]]. 
 
I wired to the War Veterans for their gathering on 11th November and I mean one day to again visit Bermuda and meet such old friends as may still remember me. 
 
God bless you all, 
JAMES WILLCOCKS, 
General.}}

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{Commons category|James Willcocks}}
*Biography, ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]''
*{{cite book|last=Willcocks|first=James|title=With the Indians in France|year=1920|url=https://archive.org/details/withindiansinfra00will|publisher=Constable}}
* Willcocks, General Sir James. ''The Romance of Soldiering & Sport''. London: Cassell and Company, Ltd. 1925.
* Willcocks, Brigadier General Sir James. ''From Kabul To Kumassi. Twenty Four Years of Soldiering and Sport.'' London: John Murray. 1904.

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Josceline Wodehouse|Sir Josceline Wodehouse]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Northern Command (India)|GOC-in-C, Northern Army, India]]|years=1910–1914}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Robert Scallon|Sir Robert Scallon]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willcocks, James}}
[[Category:1857 births]]
[[Category:1926 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Meerut district]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Afghan War]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Mahdist War]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Third Anglo-Burmese War]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Second Boer War]]
[[Category:British Army generals of World War I]]
[[Category:Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment officers]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:Royal West African Frontier Force officers]]
[[Category:Royal Army Service Corps officers]]
[[Category:Governors of Bermuda]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the War of the Golden Stool]]
[[Category:Military personnel of British India]]

James Willcocks - Revision history

Bot at 16:56, 9 November 2022