Geoffrey Feilding

Major-General Sir Geoffrey Feilding KCB KCVO CMG DSO
File:Geoffrey Feilding in 1914.jpg Feilding in 1914
Born	(1866-09-21)21 September 1866 London, England
Died	21 October 1932(1932-10-21) (aged 66)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Service years	1888–1927
Rank	Major-General
Unit	Coldstream Guards
Commands	56th (1st London) Division London District Guards Division 1st Guards Brigade 149th (Northumberland) Brigade 3rd Battalion, Coldstream Guards
Conflicts	Second Boer War First World War
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George Distinguished Service Order Mentioned in Despatches (9)

Major-General Sir Geoffrey Percy Thynne Feilding, KCB, KCVO, CMG, DSO (21 September 1866 – 21 October 1932) was a senior British Army officer who served as Major-General commanding the Brigade of Guards and General Officer Commanding London District from 1918 to 1920.

Early life

Born on 21 September 1866 in South Kensington, London, Feilding was the son of Hon. Sir Percy Feilding (son of the 7th Earl of Denbigh), who fought with the Coldstream Guards during the Crimean War, and his wife Lady Louisa Isabella Harriet Thynne, eldest daughter of the 3rd Marquess of Bath.

Military career

Feilding was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards in April 1888, promoted to lieutenant on 27 November 1890, and again to lieutenant from supernumerary lieutenant in August 1895, and lastly to captain on 6 April 1898.

Second Boer War

He served in the early part of the Second Boer War from 1899 to 1900 and was present in the engagements at Belmont in November 1899, being mentioned in dispatches twice, and received the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). In February 1901 he was made an aide-de-camp to Major General M. W. Willson. He returned to South Africa in 1902 commanding a battalion of mounted infantry and was granted the local rank of major on 20 April 1902.

Following the end of the war in June 1902, he returned to the United Kingdom on board the SS Ortona, which arrived in Southampton in September that year.

First World War

File:The Battle of the Somme, July-november 1916 Q994.jpg

King George V, General Sir Douglas Haig, and Feilding at Beauquesne, France, 12 August 1916

Fielding later served in the First World War, being mentioned in despatches seven times.

File:The British Army on the Western Front, 1914-1918 Q9185.jpg

Commanding officers of the Guards Division presented to Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, Divisional Headquarters at Bavincourt, 30 June 1918.

He was appointed commanding officer (CO) of the 3rd Battalion, Coldstream Guards in 1914. After being promoted to brevet colonel in February 1915, and the temporary rank of brigadier general in late April, he went on to succeed Brigadier General James Foster Riddell as commander of the 149th (Northumberland) Brigade, part of the 50th (Northumbrian) Division, after Riddell was killed in action. He was only there for a few weeks before being moved to command of the 1st Guards Brigade in June.

After a promotion to temporary major general in early January 1916, he was General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Guards Division from 1916 until September 1918. A war memorial, unveiled by Feilding, honours the battlefield at Ginchy where many British soldiers from the Guards Division fell during the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

Later life

After the war Feilding, promoted to the substantive rank of major general in January 1918, became Major-General commanding the Brigade of Guards and General Officer Commanding London District and then in June 1923 he was made GOC 56th (1st London) Division, taking over from Major General Sir Cecil Pereira. Feilding retired in 1927. He is buried at St. Editha's Church in Monks Kirby.