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Ian Hamilton

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Military Personnel

The Resume

    (January 16, 1853-October 12, 1947)
    Born in Corfu, Greece
    British general
    Quartermaster-General to the Forces (1903-04) and Adjutant-General to the Forces (1909-10)
    During World War I, commanded the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force during the Gallipoli Campaign (1915)
    Knighted (1902)

Why he might be annoying:

    His left leg was shorter than his right as the result of a fall off his horse.
    He was twice nominated for the prestigious Victoria Cross, but was rejected the first time for being too young and the second time for being too high-ranking an officer.
    The Gallipoli campaign produced a quarter of a million casualties without ever getting off the beaches.
    He was criticized for being indecisive and failing to motivate his subordinates during Gallipoli.
    He was a founding member of the Anglo-German Association to promote pro-German sentiments in Britain, and stayed with the group after the Nazis came to power.
    He supported banning Jews from membership in the Anglo-German Association.
    He called himself 'an admirer of the great Adolph [sic] Hitler.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was fluent in French, German and Hindi, in addition to English.
    During the First Boer War (1881), he was shot in the wrist, leaving his left hand almost useless, and taken prisoner.
    After witnessing trench warfare as an attache to the Japanese Army during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05), he accurately concluded that cavalry would be obsolete in such a conflict.
    He was a supporter of then-unconventional tactics such as night attacks and the use of aircraft.
    The Gallipoli campaign ranked low in Minister of War Herbert Kitchener's priorities, with the result that Hamilton's subordinates were described by one historian as 'the most abject collection of generals ever collected in one spot.'
    He said of Kitchener, 'I know he is not capable of understanding how he has cut his own throat, the men's throats, and mine, by not sending young and up-to-date generals to run them [the divisions of the Gallipoli invasion force].'
    He noted, 'There is nothing certain about war except that one side won't win.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 90.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 11 Votes: 36.36% Annoying