John Philip Du Cane

Sir John Du Cane GCB
Major General Sir John Philip Du Cane by Francis Dodd
Born	(1865-05-05)5 May 1865 South Kensington, London, England
Died	5 April 1947(1947-04-05) (aged 81) Westminster, London, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	British Army
Years of service	1884–1931
Rank	General
Unit	Royal Artillery
Commands	Malta British Army of the Rhine Western Command XV Corps
Battles / wars	Second Boer War First World War
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Mentioned in Despatches

General Sir John Philip Du Cane, GCB (5 May 1865 – 5 April 1947) was a British Army officer. He held high rank during the First World War, most notably as Major General Royal Artillery at General Headquarters in 1915 when the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was expanding rapidly, as General Officer Commanding XV Corps 1916–18, then from April 1918 as liaison officer between Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig and the Allied Generalissimo Ferdinand Foch. After the war he was Master-General of the Ordnance.

Military career

After attending the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Du Cane was commissioned a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery in February 1884, promoted to captain on 4 March 1893, and to major on 14 February 1900.

Group portrait of officers at the British Staff College at Camberley, England, 1906. John Du Cane, then a colonel, is sat in the front row, fifth from the left.

Du Cane served in the Second Boer War, and was appointed a staff officer for lines of communication in South Africa in September 1900. Following the end of hostilities in early June 1902, he left Cape Town on board the SS Assaye, and arrived at Southampton the next month. He was mentioned in despatches and received a brevet promotion to lieutenant colonel in the South Africa honours list published on 26 June 1902.

He then served at the Staff College, Camberley, as Deputy Assistant Adjutant General from 1905−1907.

Having been made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in June 1910, Du Cane became Commander, Royal Artillery for the 3rd Division in 1911.

Du Cane served in the First World War initially as a brigadier general on the General Staff of III Corps. In 1915, after being promoted to major general in February, as Major General Royal Artillery, he was Artillery Advisor at General Headquarters; William Robertson, Chief of Staff to the BEF in 1915, later stated that he had laid the organisational groundwork for the massive expansion of BEF artillery during the war. He was posted to the Ministry of Munitions in 1916 and then became General Officer Commanding XV Corps in 1916. In that capacity, he was closely involved in Operation Hush, a planned invasion on the Belgian coast. On 12 April 1918, against the backdrop of the German "Georgette" Offensive and Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig's demands for French reinforcements, he was appointed liaison officer between Haig and the Allied Generalissimo General Foch.

After the war, Du Cane, promoted to the permanent rank of lieutenant-general in January 1919, made his home in London at 4 Upper Brook Street, Mayfair. Du Cane was appointed Master-General of the Ordnance in 1920 and then General Officer Commanding-in-Chief for Western Command in 1923. He was General Officer Commanding-in-Chief for British Army of the Rhine from 1924 until 1927 when he became Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Malta. He was also Aide-de-Camp General to the King from 1926 to 1930. He retired in 1931.

General election 1923: Horncastle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Samuel Pattinson	10,954	54.5	+0.4
	Unionist	John Du Cane	9,135	45.5	−0.4
Majority			1,819	9.0	+0.8
Turnout			20,089	80.9	−0.6
Registered electors			24,821
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.4

Works

• DuCane, Lt. General Sir John, Marshal Foch, London: privately printed, 1920

Sources

• Harris, J.P. (2008). Douglas Haig and the First World War (2009 ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-89802-7.
• Robertson, Sir William Robert (1921). From Private to Field Marshal. London: Constable. ASIN B008TCWACC.