Frederick Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan

Infobox Military Person
name=The Earl of Cavan
lived=16 October 1865 – 28 August 1946
placeofbirth= Ayot St Lawrence, Hertfordshire
placeofdeath= London


caption=Field Marshal Lord Cavan
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|United Kingdom United Kingdom
branch=
serviceyears=
rank=Field Marshal
commands=50th (Northumbrian) Division
Guards Division
XIV Corps
unit=
battles=Second Boer War
World War I
awards=KP, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE
laterwork=
Field Marshal Frederick Rudolph Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan KP, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE (16 October 1865 – 28 August 1946) (Field Marshal Lord Cavan) was brought back from retirement at 48 in 1914 and rose to become one of the British Army's more successful commanders during the First World War.

Army career

Educated at Eton College, Frederick Lambart was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards in 1885. [Heathcote, Anthony pg 197] He saw action in the Second Boer War in 1900. He was appointed Commanding Officer of 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards in 1908.Heathcote, Anthony pg 198]

In June, 1915 Cavan was promoted to command of 50th (Northumbrian) Division; a mere two months on he was appointed the first commander of the Guards Division. In this role, he informed Major Winston Churchill of the latter's attachment to the 2nd Battalion of the Grenadiers in November 1915 ["Churchill", Roy Jenkins, Pan Books, 2002, ISBN 9780330488051] .

The following January, 1916, Cavan was placed at the head of XIV Corps, a command he held until March, 1918. In March 1918 Lambart was formally appointed Commander-in-Chief of British forces on the Italian Front.

It was in this capacity that Cavan led the Italian Tenth Army which struck a decisive blow at the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, the action that sounded the final death knell of the Austro-Hungarian Army towards the close of the war.

He was Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS) from 1922 to 1926 and was promoted to field marshal in 1931. [Heathcote, Anthony pg 199] He was among the very last representative peers to be elected from Ireland [ [http://www.thepeerage.com/p6918.htm#i69180 Field Marshal Sir Frederick Rudolph Lambart, 10th Earl of the County of Cavan] ] .

Awards

* Recipient of the Cross of Liberty (Estonia)

References

Further reading

* Heathcote, T.A. (1999). "The British Field Marshals 1736-1997". Pen & Sword Books Ltd. ISBN 0-85052-696-5

External links

* [http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0014%2FCAVN The Papers of Field Marshal Lord Cavan]
* [http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?search=ss&sText=Frederick+Lambart&LinkID=mp00808 Frederick Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan (1865-1946), Field Marshal] (National Portrait Gallery, 16 portraits)