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{{Short description|British Army general (1873–1916)}}
{{More citations needed|date=November 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Use Australian English|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Duncan John Glasfurd
| image = Duncan Glasfurd.png
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Glasfurd in April 1915
| nickname =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1873|11|23|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Matheran]], India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1916|11|12|1873|11|23|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Flers, Somme|Flers]], France
| allegiance = [[British Army]]<br/>[[Australian Army]]
| serviceyears = 1893–1916
| rank = [[Brigadier General]]
| unit =
| commands = [[12th Brigade (Australia)|12th Brigade]]
| battles = [[Second Boer War]]<br/>[[First World War]]
* [[Gallipoli Campaign]]
* [[Battle of the Somme]]
| awards = [[Mention in Despatches]] (4)
| relations =
| laterwork =
}}
[[Brigadier General]] '''Duncan John Glasfurd''' (23 November 1873 – 12 November 1916) was a [[British Army]] and later [[Australian Army]] [[colonel]] and temporary brigadier general in the [[First World War]]. He was [[mentioned in despatches]] for his role in evacuating [[Anzac Cove]]. He was mortally wounded by a German shell at [[Flers, Somme|Flers]].

==Early life and career==
Duncan John Glasfurd was born in [[Matheran]], India on 23 November 1873, the second son of Major General [[Charles Glasfurd|Charles Lamont Glasfurd]] (d.1864) of the Bombay Staff Corps. He was educated in [[Edinburgh]], [[Scotland]] and at the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst]], England.

Glasfurd was commissioned as a [[second lieutenant]] in the 2nd Battalion, [[Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders]] on 21 October 1893, and was promoted to [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] on 23 February 1896. He served as [[adjutant]] of the 1st Battalion from 4 May 1898, including during their stay in [[South Africa]] during the [[Second Boer War]].<ref>Hart's Army list, 1901</ref> Promoted to [[Captain (BARM)|captain]] on 11 January 1900,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27168|page=1260|date=23 February 1900}}</ref> he saw action in the [[Orange Free State]]; the battle of [[Battle of Paardeberg|Paardeberg]] (February 1900), where he was wounded;<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Casualties in the War|date=1 March 1900 |page=6 |issue=36078}}</ref> the [[South African Republic|Transvaal]] and the [[Orange River Colony]] where he was seriously wounded near Rustenburg in October 1900.

From April to November 1901, Glasfurd participated in operations against the [[Las_Anod#Diiriye_Guure| Diiriye Guure]]<ref name="scr">{{cite book |last1=Omar |first1=Mohamed |title=The Scramble in the Horn of Africa |date=2001 |page=402 |quote=This letter is sent by all the Dervishes, the Amir, and all the Dolbahanta to the Ruler of Berbera ... We are a Government, we have a Sultan, an Amir, and Chiefs, and subjects ... (reply) In his last letter the Mullah pretends to speak in the name of the Dervishes, their Amir (himself), and the Dolbahanta tribes. This letter shows his object is to establish himself as the Ruler of the Dolbahanta}}</ref> in [[Somalia]]. He returned to India, but was again redeployed to participate in further operations against the Mad Mullah in 1903–04, in which he commanded the 4th Somali Camel Corps. For his services in Somalia, Glasfurd was [[mentioned in despatches]].

After another tour in India, Glasfurd returned to Scotland in June 1908, where he became staff captain for coast defences, Scottish Command. Later that year he was selected to attend the staff college at [[Camberley]], England. Graduating in 1909, he rejoined his regiment in [[Malta]] in May 1910. In November, he was appointed brigade major of the [[Lothian Infantry Brigade]].

On 24 June 1912, Glasfurd was seconded to the [[Australian Army]] as Director of Military Training, with the rank of captain. He was responsible for the program of compulsory training of cadets. Glasfurd was enthusiastic about the task, but dissatisfied with the quality of training being carried out by some of the area officers, whom he regarded as unsuitable for this particular task. He was also concerned about the volume of clerical work that the area officers were burdened with. On 20 September 1913, Glasfurd was promoted to major in the [[British Army|British]] and Australian armies.

==First World War==
When war was declared, Glasfurd immediately requested permission to rejoin his regiment. Permission was not forthcoming; Major General [[William Throsby Bridges|Bridges]] needed a staff college graduate for his [[1st Division (Australia)|1st Division]] Headquarters, and Glasfurd was chosen. On 15 August 1914 he was appointed to the [[First Australian Imperial Force|Australian Imperial Force]] as General Staff Officer (2nd Grade) (GSO2), with the rank of major. As such he was particularly responsible for training, and he supervised the training of the 1st Division at [[Mena Camp]] in Egypt.

Glasfurd landed at [[Anzac Cove]] at 5:35 am on 25 April 1915. He climbed [[Ari Burnu]] straight to Colonel [[Ewen Sinclair-Maclagan|E. G. Sinclair-MacLagan]]'s headquarters, where he was informed that the 2nd Brigade, instead of coming in on the left, would, owing to the 3rd Brigade having landed too far north, be diverted towards [[Battle of Lone Pine|Lone Pine]] on the right. He returned to the beach where he found the senior officer ashore of that brigade, Lieutenant Colonel [[Harold Edward Elliott|H. Elliott]]. In the original plan, Glasfurd was supposed to meet the 2nd Brigade and guide it ashore. In fact, Glasfurd had come ashore a few minutes later than Elliott and the rest of the brigade was not yet ashore. Glasfurd decided to form up units in [[Shrapnel Gully]] as they arrived, and started with Elliott's battalion, which he directed to Lone Pine.

Glasfurd did not always get along with his superior, Lieutenant Colonel C White, who gathered all the staff functions to himself, leaving Glasfurd with little to do. When White became sick, Glasfurd took over as GSO1 of the 1st Division. White did not return, instead becoming Brigadier General General Staff (BGGS) of [[Australian and New Zealand Army Corps|ANZAC]], and so on 1 October 1915, the appointment became permanent and Glasfurd was promoted to lieutenant colonel. During the evacuation of [[Anzac Cove]], Glasfurd represented the 1st Division on the Rear Party staff of A. Russell, which controlled operations at Anzac Cove until Russell handed over to Colonel J. Paton. For his services at Anzac Cove, Glasfurd was mentioned in dispatches and made a [[brevet (military)|brevet]] lieutenant colonel in the [[British Army]] in January 1916.

On 1 March 1916, Glasfurd was appointed commander of the newly formed [[12th Brigade (Australia)|12th Infantry Brigade]], with the rank of colonel and temporary brigadier general. His first test was a route march across the [[Sinai Desert]]. By the simple expedient of resting his men from 8:50 am to 3:25 pm he managed to avoid the hottest hours of the day and still make good time. Although many men fell out, the brigade reached its bivouac in good order.

The 12th Brigade moved to France in June 1916 and on 4 July entered the line in the "nursery" sector near [[Armentières]], where Glasfurd was slightly wounded on 7 July. In August 1916, the brigade was committed to action on the [[Second Battle of the Somme|Somme]] sector, in the fighting on the [[Battle of Pozières|Pozières Heights]] and [[Battle of Mouquet Farm|Mouquet Farm]]. On 12 November 1916, the brigade was sent into the line again at [[Flers, Somme|Flers]]. While inspecting the line into which his brigade was about to move, Glasfurd was wounded by a German shell in "Cheese Road". After an agonising ten-hour stretcher journey from the front line to the advanced dressing station, Glasfurd died that night at the British 38th Casualty Clearing Station. He was buried in the [[Heilly Court Cemetery]] at [[Mericourt-l'Abbe]], France. For his services on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]], he was twice [[mentioned in despatches]].

==See also==
* [[List of Australian generals]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070304021921/http://www.unsw.adfa.edu.au/~rmallett/Generals/index.html Duncan John Glasfurd Biography at General Officers of the First AIF]

{{Australian Generals of World War I |state=expanded}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glasfurd, John}}
[[Category:1873 births]]
[[Category:1916 deaths]]
[[Category:Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders officers]]
[[Category:Australian generals]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Second Boer War]]
[[Category:British Army generals of World War I]]
[[Category:Australian military personnel killed in World War I]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Third Somaliland Expedition]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]
[[Category:Somaliland Camel Corps officers]]
[[Category:People from Raigad district]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley]]
[[Category:Military personnel of British India]]

Duncan Glasfurd - Revision history

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