MAJ GEN Ewan Sinclair-MacLagan - COMD 3 Bde on ANZAC Cove
Ewen George Sinclair-MacLagan was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on 24 December 1868, the son of a banker. He was educated at United Services College, Westward Ho!, North Devon, England.
MacLagan served in the militia before being commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Border Regiment in 1889, He served in India, participating in the expedition to Waziristan in 1894-95. He was promoted to captain in 1898. He served in the South African War from 1899 to 1901 where he was adjutant of the 1st Battalion and a company commander. He was wounded, mentioned in dispatches and awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).
In 1901, MacLagan was posted to Australia on secondment as adjutant of the New South Wales Scottish Rifles and Deputy assistant Adjutant General of the 1st Military District (New South Wales). There he married the daughter of Major General G. A. French, Commandant of the 1st Military District. He also met Lieutenant Colonel W. T. Bridges.
MacLagan returned to regimental duty with the Border Regiment in England in 1904. He was promoted to major in 1908 and transferred to the Yorkshire Regiment. In 1910 he returned to Australia at the request of Bridges as director of drill at the new Royal Military College of Duntroon. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 20 January 1911.
MacLagan was still at Duntroon when the war broke out in August 1914. He was appointed to the AIF on 15 August 1914 with the rank of colonel commanding the 3rd Infantry Brigade. He embarked for Egypt on 21 October 1914 on HMAT Orvieto. As the next most senior regular officer in the division after Bridges himself, it was natural that Bridges should turn to MacLagan to lead the assault on Gallipoli. MacLagan regarded this as a dubious honour and was dubious about the prospects of the operation. Both Bridges and Lieutenant General W. R. Birdwood considered MacLagan pessimistic, a view shared by many historians.
Landing with the second wave of the 9th Battalion on the morning of 25 April 1915, MacLagan was thrust into one of the most chaotic situations imaginable: a major landing on a wrong beach. MacLagan grasped the importance of the ground and began changing the plan accordingly, but perhaps influenced by his belief in the impossibility of the operation, failed to press vigorously and gave orders to dig in on the second ridge. For his decisive action on the first day, MacLagan was mentioned in dispatches.
Bridges felt that MacLagan was so exhausted by the second day that he sent Colonel H. N. MacLaurin to relieve him. After a brief rest, MacLagan rejoined his brigade in the southern sector of Anzac. On 25 May 1915, MacLagan was hospitalised, returning on 4 June 1915. He was evacuated again, this time with dysentery. He was evacuated to England and only rejoined his brigade at Tel el Kebir, Egypt on 1 January 1916 after the evacuation of Anzac.
MacLagan embarked at Alexandria for France on 27 March 1916, arriving at Marseilles on 3 April 1916. He commanded the 3rd Brigade at Pozieres and Mouquet Farm, where it suffered heavy casualties. On 20 November 1916, he came down with a severe case of the flu and was evacuated to England. Owing to complications, he was not cleared by the medical authorities. On 22 January 1917, MacLagan took over command of the AIF Depots in the United Kingdom from Major General Sir N. Moore, who was ill. MacLagan was mentioned in dispatches and on 2 February 1917, he was made a Companion of the Bath (CB). In June he was superseded as commander of the AIF Depots in the United Kingdom by Major General J. W. McCay, who was appointed by the Australian government. MacLagan then became Director of Military Training on 22 June 1917.
On 16 July 1917, MacLagan was promoted to major general and appointed to command the 4th Division, vice Major General W. Holmes, who had been killed in action. The division was at a low ebb at the time, having taken heavy casualties at Bullecourt and Messines, and missing out on the rest given to other divisions. It was now alerted for participation in in the new campaign in Flanders, Third Ypres. MacLagan had little time to do anything, but his division fought well at Polygon Wood in September. At the end of the year, the division's casualties for the years were reckoned at 116% of the division's strength; a loss exceeded by only six other divisions on the British Front, including the 3rd Division (135%). The 4th Division was withdrawn to become a depot division but although denied reinforcements except for its own returning wounded, it was gradually built back up to strength.
Strangely, it was the 4th Division that was first committed to the battle in March 1918 when the German Offensive struck the British Armies on the Somme sector. It was the 4th Division met and defeated the Germans at Hebuterne, Dernancourt and Second Villers-Bretonneux. On 4 July 1918, MacLagan directed the brilliant Australian and American attack on Hamel. In the attack on the Hindenburg Line on 18 september 1918, the 4th Division was halted short of its objective. MacLagan rested his men, sent forward a hot meal and then resumed the attack, capturing the objective. In late September, MacLagan was sent to the US II Corps as head of a group of 217 Australian advisors to the Americans, coaching the Americans through an attack on the Hindenburg Line. For his services in 1918, MacLagan was mentioned in dispatches three more times, bringing his total to five.
One of only five seconded British officers to remain with the Australian Army throughout the war, MacLagan was discharged from the AIF on 20 May 1919. He was promoted to major general on 1 January 1919 and was made a Companion of St Michael and St George (CMG). MacLagan commanded the British 51st (Highland) Division from 1919 to 1923. He retired in 1925 and died in Dundee, Scotland in on 24 November 1948.
UNSW Site with Bio of MAJ GEN Sinclair-MacLagan
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| MAJ GEN Sinclair-MacLagan (COMD 3 Bde at Gallipoli) |
Brigadier General Charles Brand - BM 3 Bde on ANZAC Cove
Charles Henry Brand was born in Ipswich, Queensland, on 4 September 1873, the fifth child of a farmer. He was educated at Bundaberg and Maryborough State Schools and joined the Department of Public Instruction as a trainee teacher in November 1887.
On 17 February 1898, Brand was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Queensland Volunteer Infantry. On the outbreak of war in South Africa, he enlisted as a sergeant in the 3rd Queensland (Mounted Infantry) Contingent. He served with the Rhodesian Field Force from 26 April 1900 to 25 May 1900. He was promoted to lieutenant on 25 June 1900 and then in the Transvaal from July 1900 to 31 January 1901 participating in the action at Renosterkop on 29 November 1900. He then served in the Orange Free State, the Cape Colony and finally the Transvaal again in January through March 1901. He returned to Australia in June 1901, but in May 1902, he volunteered for a second tour, and became a captain in command of a squadron the 7th Commonwealth Light Horse. However peace was declared before the unit reached South Africa.
On returning to Australia a second time, Brand resumed his pre-war career as a teacher, teaching at Charter Towers State School from 1903 to 1904. He was promoted to captain in the Queensland Volunteer Infantry on 27 March 1903, serving as adjutant from 1 September 1902 to 30 November 1905.
In 1905, Brand joined the permanent forces as a lieutenant and joined the Administrative and Instructional Corps in Melbourne. He was promoted to captain in July 1909. In 1910, he was sent to India on exchange. He served as a General Staff Officer (GSO) at Secunderbad, as Deputy Adjutant and Quartermaster General of the 1st and 2nd Secunderbad Infantry Brigades, as a staff captain with the Secunderbad Cavalry Brigade. He also attended the musketry and transport schools in 1911.
Returning to Australia, Brand was a General Staff Officer (third grade) (GSO3) in Adelaide from 1 September 1911 to 26 November 1913. He was acting commandant of the 4th Military District (South Australia) from 26 November 1913 until 30 June 1914, when he resumed as GSO3.
Brand joined the AIF as a major on 15 August 1914. Major General W. T. Bridges arranged for each of the three infantry brigades of the 1st Division to have a regular officer for a brigade major and he selected Brand as the brigade major of the 3rd Infantry Brigade. Brand embarked for Egypt on board the Orvieto on 21 October 1914. There he became a recognisable sight, going about his duties on a donkey when other transport was scare.
The 3rd Brigade was the first ashore at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915 and Brand came ashore at around 7am. There he met his brigade commander, Colonel E. G. Sinclair-MacLagan who set off for Plugge's Plateau on the left, and sent Brand to the 400 Plateau on the right. On reaching the plateau, Brand was surprised to see a battery of Turkish guns, and sent Lieutenant N. M. Loutit to deal with them. Owing to the somewhat confusing nature of the ground, this took some time, but the guns, three Krupp field pieces, were eventually captured and Brand attempted to create a defensive position on the 400 Plateau at Lone Pine with elements of the 9th and 10th Battalions.
On 16 May 1915, Brand took over temporary command of the 3rd Infantry Battalion. Then on 20 May he was transferred to the 8th Infantry Battalion. The next day he was wounded when a German naval shell struck its headquarters but remained on duty. On 2 June 1915, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), the first Australian to receive for the Gallipoli campaign. On 14 July 1915, took over command of the 8th Battalion, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel. The 8th Battalion relieved the 6th and 7th Battalions at Steele's Post on 18 July so that they could participate in the attacks on the German Officers' Trench and Lone Pine. The 8th battalion held Steele's Post for the rest of the campaign, except for a rest break on Lemnos in November.
The 8th Battalion moved to the Western Front in March 1916. From 6 to 27 June 1916, Brand was acting commander of the 6th Infantry Brigade, standing in for Brigadier General J. Gellibrand, who had been wounded. After this, Brand was marked for the next brigade appointment, and on 10 July 1916, he succeeded Brigadier General J. Monash in command of the 4th Infantry Brigade, and was promoted to colonel and temporary brigadier general. Brand led the brigade at Pozieres in July 1916. On 1 December 1915, he was promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel in the AMF.
Brand opposed the attack on Bullecourt in April 1917 which cost his brigade 2,339 casualties out of 3,000 engaged, of whom about 1,000 were prisoners. Later Brand and Lieutenant General W. R. Birdwood apologised to the brigade, with tears in their eyes.
The brigade fought at Messines in June. On 6 July 1917, the staff of the 4th Brigade was sitting down to dinner when a German 5.9 inch shell landed among them. The intelligence officer, Lieutenant G. W. Markam was killed and Brand, his brigade major, Major C. M. Johnston, staff captain, Captain H. Thomson, and signal officer, Lieutenant W. Beazley, were all wounded. Brand rejoined the brigade on 18 July and led it at Third Ypres. On 24 September 1917, he was promoted to brevet colonel in the AMF.
During the German Offensive of 1918, the 4th Brigade was sent to cover a gap around Hebuterne, which it held for three weeks. From 9 to 25 July 1918, Brand was acting commander of the 4th Division. During the attack on the Hindenburg Line, Brand was the head of the 109 Australian advisors attached to the US 27th Division and helped lead it through its first battle as a division.
On 5 October 1918 Brand left the 4th Brigade to return to Australia on Anzac Leave. Before sailing for Australia he was invested with the Companion of the Bath (CB), Companion of St Michael and St George (CMG) and Distinguished Service Order (DSO) at Buckingham Palace. For his services he had been mentioned in dispatches eight times. Brand arrived back in Australia on 21 December 1918 and his appointment to the AIF was terminated on 21 February 1919.
From 1919 to 1920, Brand was commandant of the 3rd Military District (Victoria). He was confirmed in the rank of brigadier general on 1 April 1920 and was base commandant of the 2nd Military District (New South Wales) from 1921 to 1925. He became 2nd Chief of the General Staff (CGS) and a member of the Military Board in 1926. From 1928 to 1933 he was Quartermaster General. He retired in 1933 with the rank of major general.
In 1934 Brand won a Victorian Senate seat for the United Australia Party which he held until June 1947. He was most concerned with defence policy and veterans' affairs and was chairman of the Parliamentary Ex-Servicemen's Committee from 1942 to 1947.
Brand died on 31 July 1961 and was cremated with full military honours.
Sources: Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1899-1939, Vol 7, pp. 390-391; AWM 183/9; Bean, C. E. W., The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918. Volume I: The Story of Anzac pp. 134-135, 275, 338-344;Volume II: The Story of Anzac pp. 342-344;Volume IV: The AIF in France 1917 pp. 343, 350-351, 713
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| Brigadier General Charles Brand |
UNSW Web Site with details of BM 3 Bde at ANZAC Cove
CEW Bean's Record of 3 Bde Landing
(1) Charles Bean, report sent to Andrew Fisher (17th May, 1915)
The Australians and Maorilanders landed in two bodies, the first being a covering force to seize the ridges around the landing about an hour later. The moon that night set about an hour and a half before daylight. This just gave time for the warships and transports of the covering force to steam in and land the troops before dawn.
It had long been known that the Third Australian Brigade, consisting of Queenslanders, South Australians, Western Australians, and Tasmanians, had been chosen to make the landing. This brigade consists largely of miners from the Broken Hill and Westralian gold-fields. It had left Egypt many weeks before the rest of the force, and had landed on Lemnos Island, where the troops were thoroughly practised at landing from ships and boats. During the second week in April the greater part of the Australian and New Zealand troops from Egypt followed, and had been just a fortnight in Lemnos when they sailed to effect a landing at a certain position on the northern shore of Gallipoli Peninsula, about 60 miles away.
The covering force was taken partly in four of our own transports, partly in three battleships. The night was perfect; about three o'clock the moon set, and the ships carrying the troops, together with the three warships which were charged with the protection of the flanks, stole in towards the high coastline. It was known that the coast was fortified, and that a battery on a promontory 2 miles southwards, and several other guns amongst the hills inland covered the landing place. The battleships and transports took up a position in two lines. The troops were transferred partly to the warships' boats, and partly to destroyers, which hurried in shore, and re-transferred their occupants to boats, which then made by the shortest route for the beach.
It was eighteen minutes past four on the morning of Sunday, 25th April, when the first boat grounded. So far not a shot had been fired by the enemy. Colonel McLagan's orders to his brigade were that shots, if possible, were not to be fired till daybreak, but the business was to be carried through with the bayonet. The men leapt into the water, and the first of them had just reached the beach when fire was opened on them from the trenches on the foothills which rise immediately from the beach. The landing place consists of a small bay about half-a-mile from point to point with two much larger bays north and south. The country rather resembles the Hawkesbury River country in New South Wales, the hills rising immediately from the sea to 600 feet. To the north these ridges cluster to a summit nearly 1,000 feet high. Further northward the ranges become even higher. The summit just mentioned sends out a series of long ridges running south-westward, with steep gullies between them, very much like the hills and gullies about the north of Sydney, covered with low scrub very similar to a dwarfed gum tree scrub. The chief difference is that there are no big trees, but many precipices and sheer slopes of gravel. One ridge comes down to the sea at the small bay above mentioned, and ends in two knolls about 100 feet high, one at each point of the bay. It was from these that fire was first opened on the troops as they landed. Bullets struck fireworks out of the stones along the beach. The men did not wait to be hit, but wherever they landed they simply rushed straight up the steep slopes. Other small boats which had cast off from the warships and steam launches which towed them, were digging for the beach with oars. These occupied the attention of the Turks in the trenches, and almost before the Turks had time to collect their senses, the first boatloads were well up towards the trenches. Few Turks awaited the bayonet. It is said that one huge Queenslander swung his rifle by the muzzle, and, after braining one Turk, caught another and flung him over his shoulder. I do not know if this story is true, but when we landed some hours later, there was said to have been a dead Turk on the beach with his head smashed in. It is impossible to say which battalion landed first, because several landed together. The Turks in the trenches facing the landing had run, but those on the other flank and on the ridges and gullies still kept up a fire upon the boats coming in shore, and that portion of the covering force which landed last came under a heavy fire before it reached the beach. The Turks had a machine gun in the valley on our left, and this seems to have been turned on to the boats containing part of the Twelfth Battalion. Three of these boats are still lying on the beach some way before they could be rescued. Two stretcher-bearers of the Second Battalion who went along the beach during the day to effect a rescue were both shot by the Turks. Finally, a party waited for dark, and crept along the beach, rescuing nine men who had been in the boats two days, afraid to move for fear of attracting fire. The work of the stretcher-bearers all through a week of hard fighting has been beyond all praise.
The Third Brigade went over the hills with such dash that within three quarters of an hour of landing some had charged over three successive ridges. Each ridge was higher than the last, and each party that reached the top went over it with wild cheers. Since that day the Turks have never attempted to face our bayonets. The officers led magnificently, but, of course, nothing like an accurate control of the attack was possible. Subordinate leaders had been trained at Mena to act on their own responsibility, and the benefit of this was enormously apparent in this attack. Companies and platoons, little crowds of 50 to 200 men, were landed wherever the boats took them. Their leaders had a general idea of where they were intended to go, and once landed, each subordinate commander made his way there by what seemed to him to be the shortest road. The consequence was that the Third Brigade reached its advanced line in a medley of small fractions inextricably mixed. Several further lines of Turkish trenches were swept through. On the further ridges the Turks did not wait for the bayonet, and when at sunrise ships bringing the first portion of the main body arrived and steamed slowly through the battleships to disembark the men, those on board could see figures on the skyline of the ridges near them, and on a further ridge inland. Presently a heliograph winked from near the top of the second hill. They were our men. They could be seen walking about and digging just as you see them any morning at Liverpool Camp during annual training. The relief which flooded the hearts of thousands of anxious watchers on the ships can be better imagined than described.