HERO OF MONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20641, 13 August 1930, Page 11

HERO OF MONS.

GENERAL SMITH-DORRIEN. DEATH AFTER ACCIDENT. (Received August 13, 1.15 a.m.) LONDON, August 11. General Sir Horace Sinith-Dorrien was gravely injured in a motoring accident a few milcss from his own home and died without regaining consciousness. The general's saloon car collided at a crossroad with a small touring car and was capsized, throwing him heavily.

General Horace Lockwood Smith-Dor-rieil was born in Mpy, 1858. Joining the Army in 1871 he fought in tho Zulu War, the campaigns in Egypt and the Sudan (1882-6) and the Tirah campaign (18978), in which lie showed great skill in handling troops. Returning to tho Sudan he took part in tho final advance to Khartum and - was promoted brevetcolonel. In 1890 lie went to the Cape in command of' his regiment and was soon afterwards given a brigade a,nd promoted major-general. Ho remained in South Africa until the end of the war in 1901, taking part in numerous operations and was then appointed adjutant-general in India, where he rose to be a divisional commander and in 1906 became lieuten-ant-general. After hplding tho Aldershot command he was transferred to the southern district in 1912 and made a general, receiving a knighthood in 1913. On the death of • General Grierson in the early days of the Great War (August, 1914) General Smith-Dorrien took his place as commander of the 2nd Army Corps, which he led in the masterly retreat from Mons, beat an immeasurably stronger force of the enemy to a standstill and, by a series of rearguard action? won aclmiration. In a letter to the press Lord Napier of Magdala described the achievement of August 26, 1914, as fol10Our~2nd Army Corps and another division, sav, 50,000 men, with perhaps 140 guns, were attacked at daybreak by four German Army Corps, say, 200,000 and 640 guns. From that time till p.m. the Germans were held up and our troops finally extricated, unpursued. This country owes a vast debt to Smith-Dorrien and his fine troops. . .p, ■ n Subsequently General Smith-Dornen commanded his corps at the Battle of the Marne, on the Ai'sne, and during the severe fighting in Flanders in October and November, 1914. On the splitting up of the British forces into two armies he was appointed to the command of the second. That position he held till April. 1915, when he was sent back to England and put in charge of one of the home defence armies. In the following year he was chosen to lead the British forces in German East Africa, but became ill on the voyage, was unable to take up the command, and had to return home In 1917 he was appointed Lieutenant of tlie Tower and in 1918 Governor and Com-mander-in-Chief at Gibraltar. He retrred from the Army in 192 d.