Birdwood, FM William, 1st Baron (1865-1951). Born in India, Birdwood served on the North-West frontier and in the Second Boer War on Lord Kitchener's staff. Promoted major general in 1911, he was secretary to the Army Department in India in 1914. He owed his appointment to command the forces raised by Australia and New Zealand to Kitchener, and was sent to the Dardanelles in February 1915 to report on the failure of the naval attack on the Narrows. He commanded the Anzac Corps throughout the campaign and was responsible for planning the August offensive and, with his Australian COS Col C. B. B. White, the successful withdrawal in December. Birdwood went to France with the Australian Imperial Force in March 1916, and commanded Anzac I Corps until November 1917 when the Australian divisions were combined into the Australian Corps. After Gough was dismissed he received command of Fifth Army in May 1918, which then played a minor role in the defeat of the Germans in the west. He remained in administrative command of the Australian Imperial Force until the Armistice. Birdwood toured Australia in 1920 to great popular acclaim, but his bid to become governor-general failed.
— Jeffrey Grey
