Arthur Dorward (British Army officer)

Major-General Sir Arthur Robert Ford Dorward, KCB DSO (13 July 1848 – 25 March 1934) was a British Army officer who commanded the Troops in the Straits Settlements and served as the first Commissioner of British Weihaiwei.[1]

Sir Arthur Dorward
Birth nameArthur Robert Ford Dorward
Born13 July 1848
Ootacamund, Madras Presidency
Died25 March 1934(1934-03-25) (aged 85)
Palma, Majorca
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service1868–1918
RankMajor-General
Commands heldTroops in the Straits Settlements
Commissioner of Weihaiwei
Battles/warsSecond Anglo-Afghan War
Boxer Rebellion
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Service Order

Early life and education

Dorward was born in Ootacamund, British India, the son of James Dorward of Pencaitland, Inspector-General of Hospitals, Madras, and his wife, Charlotte Matilda Ford. He was educated at Edinburgh High School and at Cheltenham College before attending the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.[1]

Military career

Dorward was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1868.[2] He served in the Second Anglo-Afghan War in 1878.[3] He was appointed Commander, Royal Engineers in Jamaica in 1897 and then took part in the capture of Tientsin following the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900, for which he was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB).[4] Dorward then served as Commissioner of Weihaiwei from September 1901,[5] and went on to be Commander of the troops in Shanghai later the same year. In October 1902 it was announced he would vacate his command in Shanghai as the British reduced their forces in China,[6] and he returned home where he was received by King Edward VII and invested with the KCB at Buckingham Palace on 24 October 1902.[7]

He was subsequently appointed General Officer Commanding the Troops in the Straits Settlements with the rank of brigadier-general,[8] and left the UK for Singapore in November 1902,[9] taking up the post on arrival in 1903.[10] Two years later he was appointed Major-General in charge of Administration in South Africa in 1905.[2] He served in World War I as Inspector of Hutting at the War Office.[2]

He died in Palma, Majorca.[11]

References
  1. "Obituary: Major-General Sir A. R. F. Dorward – The Boxer Troubles in China". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. 25 March 1934.
  2. Sir Arthur Robert Ford Dorward Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
  3. Dictionary of Indian Biography, p.121
  4. "No. 27337". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 July 1901. p. 4915.
  5. "No. 27352". The London Gazette. 6 September 1901. p. 5875.
  6. "Naval & Military intelligence - The British Forces in China". The Times (36892). London. 7 October 1902. p. 8.
  7. "Court Circular". The Times (36908). London. 25 October 1902. p. 8.
  8. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36889). London. 3 October 1902. p. 8.
  9. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36930). London. 20 November 1902. p. 10.
  10. Army Commands Archived 5 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  11. Major-General Sir Arthur Dorward, former GOC Straits The Straits Times, 27 March 1934
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