Edward Ingouville-Williams

Edward Ingouville-Williams
Birth name	Edward Charles Ingouville-Williams
Nickname(s)	"Inky Bill"
Born	(1861-12-13)13 December 1861 Purbrook, Hampshire, England
Died	22 July 1916(1916-07-22) (aged 54) Somme, France
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	British Army
Years of service	1881–1916
Rank	Major-General
Unit	Buffs (East Kent Regiment) Worcestershire Regiment
Commands	2nd Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment 16th Brigade 34th Division
Battles / wars	Nile Expedition Battle of Atbara Battle of Khartoum Second Boer War Relief of Ladysmith First World War Battle of the Somme
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order Mentioned in dispatches (4)

Major-General Edward Charles Ingouville-Williams CB DSO (13 December 1861 – 22 July 1916) was a British Army officer of the First World War. He was killed in action while serving as commander of the 34th Division during the Battle of the Somme in July 1916.

Early life and military career

Ingouville-Williams was born in Purbrook, Hampshire, to General Sir John William Collman Williams, an officer of the Royal Marines, and Georgiana Isabella, the daughter of a wealthy landowner.

He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the East Kent Regiment (3rd Regiment of Foot; known as "the Buffs") on 23 April 1881. He participated in the Nile Expedition (1884–1885) and served as adjutant to the regiment from 1894 to 1898 after promotion to captain. He was seconded to the Egyptian Army in 1898 and 1899, during which time he took part in the Battle of Atbara and the Battle of Khartoum, for which he was mentioned in dispatches.

From 1899 to 1902, he served under Sir Charles Warren in the Second Boer War. He was present at the Relief of Ladysmith and was twice mentioned in despatches during the war. His brother George, a major in the South Staffordshire Regiment was killed in action during the conflict. By the end of the war, he had been awarded the Queen's South Africa Medal King's South Africa Medal, and the Distinguished Service Order, and had been promoted to local lieutenant colonel. He changed his name to Ingouville-Williams in 1902, apparently in memory of his mother, whose maiden name was Ingouville.

In 1903, Ingouville-Williams was transferred to command the 2nd Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment, with whom he spent much of the following five years in India. After completing his tour as a battalion commander, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1910 and went on to serve as Commandant of the School of Mounted Infantry and then to command the 16th Infantry Brigade from June 1912 until the outbreak of the First World War just over two years later. As a result of his new appointment, he received a promotion to the rank of brigadier-general.

First World War

Ingouville-Williams and his brigade, now part of the 6th Division, were ordered to France soon after the outbreak of the First World War.

He remained in command of the 16th Brigade until June 1915, when he was promoted to major-general and sent home to command the newly formed 34th Division, a Kitchener's Army unit. After training in England, he took the 34th to the Western Front in January 1916 and led the division at the beginning of the Battle of the Somme in summer 1916. He earned another four mentions in despatches during the war. On 22 July, Ingouville-Williams and his aide-de-camp personally inspected the ground on which the division was expected to fight the following week. On his way back, he was caught in an artillery barrage and was killed instantly after being struck by a piece of shrapnel.

He was buried at Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery extension in France.

Bibliography

• Davies, Frank (1997). Bloody Red Tabs: General Officer Casualties of the Great War 1914–1918. London: Pen & Sword Books. ISBN 978-0-85052-463-5.