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{{Short description|British Army officer}}
{{about||his father, the British Army officer and military historian|Frederick William Spring}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{EngvarB|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox military person
|name = Frederick Spring [[Order of the Bath|CB]] [[Order of St Michael and St George|CMG]] [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]]
|birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1878|07|25}}
|birth_place = Bombay, India
|death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1963|09|24|1878|07|25}}
|death_place = Aldershot, Hampshire, England
|rank = [[Brigadier general|Brigadier-General]]
|allegiance = {{UK}}
|branch = [[Image:Flag of the British Army.svg|23px]] [[British Army]]
|commands = 11th Battalion, [[Essex Regiment]]<br>1st Battalion, [[Royal Lincolnshire Regiment]]<br>[[33rd Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|33rd Infantry Brigade]]
|battles = [[Second Boer War]]<br>[[First World War]]
|awards = [[Order of the Bath|Companion of the Order of the Bath]], [[Order of St Michael and St George|Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George]], [[Distinguished Service Order]], [[Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (France)|Croix de guerre]], [[Mention in Dispatches|Mentioned in Dispatches]]
}}

[[Brigadier-General]] '''Frederick Gordon Spring''', {{Post-nominals|sep=,|CB|CMG|DSO|JP}} (25 July 1878 – 24 September 1963) was a senior [[British Army]] officer.

==Early life==
Spring was born in 1878 in [[Mumbai|Bombay]], [[British India|India]], the son of Colonel [[Frederick William Spring]], a [[Royal Artillery]] officer.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} He was educated at [[Blundell's School]] and the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst]].<ref name="londongazette">{{London Gazette |issue=26964|date=6 May 1898 |page=2821}}</ref><ref name="lib.militaryarchive.co.uk">The VC and DSO, Volume III http://lib.militaryarchive.co.uk/library/Biographical/library/The-VC-and-DSO-Volume-III/files/assets/basic-html/page350.html</ref>

==Military career==
Spring was commissioned into the [[Royal Lincolnshire Regiment]] as a [[second lieutenant]] on 7 May 1898,<ref name="londongazette"/> and promoted to [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] on 3 January 1900.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27174|page=1793|date=16 March 1900}}</ref> He served with the regiment in South Africa during the [[Second Boer War]], from June 1900 he took part in operations in [[Transvaal Republic|Transvaal]]. He was again seconded for service in South Africa in April 1902,<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=27428 |page=2792 |date=25 April 1902}}</ref> when he commanded a mounted infantry contingent. The war ended two months later, and Spring left Cape Town in the SS ''Dunera'' in late September 1902, arriving at Southampton early the following month.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Army in South Africa – Troops returning Home |date=26 September 1902 |page=4 |issue=36883}}</ref>

Spring was adjutant of the 2nd Battalion of his regiment between 1904 and 1907, and was promoted to [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] in 1905.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27871|date=5 January 1906 |page=110 }}</ref> He retired from the army as a major in 1907, but was recalled to service at the outbreak of the [[First World War]].

==World War 1==
He initially served as an Embarkation Officer, but was soon posted to the Staff of the [[33rd infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|33rd (Infantry) Brigade]] as its Signals Officer.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=29405|date=17 December 1915 |page=12564 }}</ref> He was deployed to [[Gallipoli Campaign|Gallipoli]] with the brigade in 1915, and was involved in the successful capture of "Chocolate Hill" by the 6th (Service) Battalion of the [[Lincolnshire Regiment]] from [[Ottoman Empire]] forces during the [[Battle of Sari Bair]].<ref>F. G. Spring, 'Postcript I', ''The History of the 6th (Service) Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment'' (Poacher Books, 2008), 69.</ref> However, the battalion suffered heavy losses and Spring was injured in the action. Upon recovery he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in June 1916, and took command of the 11th (Service) Battalion of the [[Essex Regiment]], which at the time was engaged on the [[Western Front (World War 1)|Western Front]] with the [[6th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|6th Infantry Division]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=29501|date=9 March 1916 |page=2544|supp=y }}</ref> Whilst in this position Spring presided over a Divisional [[court martial]] that sentenced Pte. [[Harry Farr]] of the 1st Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment to death for cowardice. Spring commanded the 11th (S) Battalion Essex Regiment during the [[Battle of the Somme]], and at the [[Battle of Cambrai (1917)|Battle of Cambrai]]. He was promoted to colonel in 1918. In September 1918 he returned to the 33rd Brigade as its brigadier-general. He was [[Mention in Dispatches|Mentioned in Dispatches]] five times over the course of the war.<ref name="lib.militaryarchive.co.uk"/> He was also awarded the [[Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (France)|Croix de guerre]] by the French government.

==Post-war military career==
Following the end of World War 1, Spring was appointed Senior Instructor at the [[Senior Officers' School, Belgaum]], India from January 1921 to September 1922.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=32364|date=21 June 1921 |page=4920 }}</ref> Returning to England, Spring continued to serve with the Lincolnshire Regiment, commanding the 1st Battalion between 1923 and 1927.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{London Gazette |issue=34056|date=4 June 1934 |page=3558 }}</ref> In this capacity he was in charge of the battalion during its deployment to [[Northern Ireland]] from 1923 to 1924 in support of the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]].

Between 1927 and 1931, Spring was Assistant Quartermaster General of Southern Command in England. He was subsequently the commander of the Poona (Independent) Brigade Area, Southern Command, India until his retirement in 1935.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> From 1935 to 1939, he served as Inspector of Recruiting.<ref name="obit">"Brig.-Gen. F. G. Spring." Times [London, England] 26 September 1963: 18. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 27 December 2013.</ref> During the [[Second World War]], he worked on the [[Imperial General Staff]] at the [[War Office]]. He was also a [[Justice of the Peace]].

==Death==
Spring died in 1963 in [[Aldershot]], Hampshire. There is a memorial in [[Lincoln Cathedral]] to his memory.<ref>Lincoln Cathedral Roll of Honour http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Lincolnshire/LincolnCathedralIndividuals.html</ref>

==Personal life==
He married Violet Maud Turnbull, the granddaughter of Colonel Henry Law Maydwell, in late 1919.<ref>The Times (London), 7 October 1919, page 27.</ref> In 1933 Spring's nine-year-old son, John Gordon Spring, died after an accident while being shown around the Royal Navy battleship [[HMS Hood]] at Portsmouth. He accidentally fell 60 ft down an open hatch and died of injuries sustained the next day.<ref>"News in Brief." Times [London, England] 4 August 1933: 12. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 27 December 2013.</ref>

==Publications==
*''The History of the 6th (Service) Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment 1914 – 1919'' (Written in the 1920s – first published in 2009 by Poacher Books)

==References==
*{{Cite book |title = The History of the 6th (Service) Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment 1914 – 1919
|last = Spring
|first = F.G.
|location =
|publisher = Poacher Books
|year = 2009
|page = 116
|isbn = 9780955991400
|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZW7RAQAAQBAJ&q=Frederick+Gordon+Spring+C.B.%2C+C.M.G.%2C+D.S.O.&pg=PA115
|access-date = 17 December 2013
}}
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Arthur Daly (British Army officer)|Arthur Daly]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Officer Commanding the [[33rd Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|33rd Brigade]]|years=September 1917 – December 1918}}
{{s-aft|after=Formation disbanded}}
|-
{{end}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spring, Frederick}}
[[Category:1878 births]]
[[Category:1963 deaths]]
[[Category:British Army brigadiers]]
[[Category:Royal Lincolnshire Regiment officers]]
[[Category:Essex Regiment officers]]
[[Category:Spring family|Frederick]]
[[Category:British Army generals of World War I]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Second Boer War]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)]]
[[Category:People educated at Blundell's School]]
[[Category:Military personnel of British India]]
[[Category:British Army generals of World War II]]

Frederick Spring - Revision history

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