Alfred Cavendish

Brigadier General Alfred Edward John Cavendish CMG (19 June 1859 – 2 February 1943) was a British Army general who served in the South African War and First World War as a staff officer.

History

In 1880 he was commissioned in the 91st (Princess Louise's Argyllshire Highlanders) Regiment, later the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He served as Adjutant to the 1st Battalion from 1885 to 1887, then passed through the Staff College and entered a career of staff posts.

During the First Sino-Japanese War he was an attaché with the Chinese Army. After service as the Deputy Assistant Adjutant General for Dublin and Aldershot Districts, he was in January 1900 appointed Deputy Assistant Adjutant General for the 8th Division South African field force, sent to take part in the Second Boer War in South Africa. He saw a brief spell of regimental service from 1907 to 1911, commanding his old battalion, the 2nd Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, before being posted as Assistant Adjutant General of Southern Command.

On the outbreak of the First World War he was appointed Assistant Adjutant General of the British Expeditionary Force, then promoted to Brigadier-General and assigned to the staff of V Corps in early 1915. He later served as Assistant Adjutant General to the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and the Dardanelles Army, and from 1916 was commanding South African Command.