George Henry Fowke

Sir George Henry Fowke
Born	(1864-09-10)10 September 1864 Halstead, Essex[1]
Died	8 February 1936(1936-02-08) (aged 71) Dinard, France
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	British Army
Years of service	1884–1922
Rank	Lieutenant General
Unit	Royal Engineers
Commands	Engineer-in-Chief, BEF Adjutant-General, BEF
Battles / wars	Second Boer War Siege of Ladysmith World War I
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George[2] Mentioned in Despatches

Lieutenant General Sir George Henry Fowke KCB, KCMG (10 September 1864 – 8 February 1936) was a British Army officer who served on the staff of the British Expeditionary Force during World War I.

Fowke joined the Royal Engineers as a lieutenant on 15 February 1884,^[3] and was promoted to captain on 19 July 1892.^[4] He saw active service in South Africa during the Second Boer War, where he was present at the Defence of Ladysmith, for which he was mentioned in despatches.^[5] During the war he received a brevet promotion to major on 29 November 1900, and was confirmed with the substantive rank of major on 22 February 1901.^[6] The war ended in June 1902 with the Peace of Vereeniging, and for his service he received a brevet promotion as lieutenant-colonel on 22 August 1902.^[7]

After the war, he stayed in South Africa and was appointed as Director of Public Works in the Transvaal and was a member of the Transvaal Legislative Council from 1902 to 1904.^[8] During the Russo-Japanese War, he was an observer attached to the Japanese Army in Manchuria, and then lectured on fortifications at the School of Military Engineering.^[8] After being made a brevet colonel in August 1908,^[9] he was appointed the Assistant Adjutant General for the Royal Engineers in 1910, and then the Inspector of the Royal Engineers in 1913.^[8]

On the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, he was promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier general^[10] and appointed to the post of Brigadier-General Royal Engineers in the BEF, the senior engineering advisor.^[8] As the war settled into a stalemate it became apparent that the Royal Engineers would play a significant role in trench warfare, and the position was changed to Chief Engineer and then to Engineer-in-Chief in 1915. He was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in February 1915.^[11] He was promoted to major general in June 1915.^[12] It was in this position, that he agreed the formation of the Royal Engineer tunnelling companies, after a proposal from John Norton-Griffiths.

In February 1916, he was promoted to hold the post of Adjutant-General of the Expeditionary Force.^[8] He held this post until the end of the war, and, having been made a permanent lieutenant-general in January 1919,^[13] retired from the army in 1922.^[8]

In addition to his British decorations and awards, he was also awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal by the United States, with the citation for the medal reading:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Lieutenant General George H. Fowke, Royal British Army, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service in a position of great responsibility to the Government of the United States, during World War I. While serving as Adjutant General, British Expeditionary Services, General Fowke rendered invaluable service to the American Expeditionary Forces and to the cause in which the United States has been engaged.^[14]

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