Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy

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Julian Byng, 1915

Julian Hedworth George Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy , GCB , GCMG , MVO (born September 11, 1862 in Wrotham Park , Middlesex , England - † June 6, 1935 in Thorpe-le-Soken , Essex ) was a British field marshal , Army Commander in World War I and later Governor General of Canada .

Life

Youth and military time

Julian Byng studied at Eton College and then began a career in the military. At the age of 17, he was inducted into the King's Royal Rifle Corps as a Second Lieutenant in 1879 . Through the mediation of the Prince of Wales , he received a position with the 10th Royal Hussars in 1883 , which he financed in part by training polo horses. He served with the Regiment in India and Sudan, and graduated from Staff College at Camberley in the early 1890s .

From 1899 to 1902 he served during the Second Boer War in South Africa , where he led the South African Light Horse as Brevet Lieutenant Colonel , a mounted volunteer regiment in which, among other things, the young Winston Churchill served. During this campaign, he proposed marriage to Marie Evelyn Moreton . He longed for an answer so badly that he asked her to telegraph her answer . Lord Byng framed her answer "Yes, please come back right away!" and had it on his desk for the rest of his life. They married on April 30, 1902, but the marriage remained childless after several miscarriages.

In the same year 1902 he was transferred to India as commander of the 10th Hussars and rose to Lieutenant Colonel on October 11th . On May 11, 1905, he took command of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade in Tidworth, in 1906 he became Brigade General and took over the command of the 1st Cavalry Brigade in Aldershot. In April 1909 he was promoted to major-general and in October 1910 he took command of the East Anglian Division of the Territorial Force before being appointed commander of British forces in Egypt in 1912.

Byng on the Western Front in April 1917

At the beginning of the First World War , he took over command of the 3rd Cavalry Division of the British Expeditionary Corps in France on September 29, 1914 . On April 19, 1915 he rose to lieutenant-general and took over the command of the cavalry corps in Flanders as the successor to Edmund Allenby . In August 1915 he disbanded General Frederick Stopford during the unsuccessful Dardanelles campaign as commander of the IX. Corps and supervised the embarkation of his troops from the strait to Egypt in January 1916. After his return to the Western Front , he initially took command of the XVII until May 1916. Corps and from June 1916 via the Canadian Army Corps. With his subordinate General Arthur Currie , he gained great fame in April 1917 when he won the Battle of Arras (in preparation for the Battle of the Aisne ). This historic victory fueled nationalism in Canada. After this victory, Byng commanded the 3rd Army , with which he led the first surprise attack with tanks at the Battle of Cambrai , which is seen as a turning point in this war.

For his services he was promoted to general . After the war he was in the on October 7, 1919 hereditary nobility to Baron Byng of Vimy , of Thorpe-le-Soken in the County of Essex , raised and retired shortly afterwards from active military service.

Governor General of Canada

Byng as Governor General with his wife, around 1922

Byng was named Governor General of Canada on August 2, 1921 because of his popularity in Canada . During his travels across the country, throughout his tenure in office, he was greeted enthusiastically by the men he led in the war. Lord Byng's appointment was less controversial than that of his predecessor, Victor Cavendish . This is partly due to his popularity, but also because his appointment came after direct consultations with the Canadian government. Lord Byng held office enthusiastically and cemented traditions brought up by his predecessors. But he also broke with tradition: he was the first governor general to appoint Canadian aides . One of them was Georges Vanier , who later himself was Governor General from 1959 to 1967.

He's always been into sports, and both he and his wife especially liked ice hockey . Lord Byng rarely missed an Ottawa Senators game . In 1925 Lady Byng donated the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy to the National Hockey League , an award that recognizes fairness and excellent play to this day.

Lord and Lady Byng also traveled more than any of their predecessors. They made extensive trips to western Canada and the north and took the opportunity to meet with many Canadians. Lord Byng donated the Governor General's Cup at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, and Lady Byng created a rock garden at Rideau Hall that is still popular today.

The most significant issue of his tenure was the King Byng Affair , a political crisis that arose between the Governor General and Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King over the role of Governor General.

After the time as governor general

After serving as Governor General, Lord and Lady Byng returned to Great Britain, where he was promoted to Viscount Byng of Vimy , of Thorpe-le-Soken in the County of Essex in late 1926 . He served as a commissioner for the Metropolitan Police and was appointed field marshal. Then he and his wife withdrew to Essex for good. Lord Byng died in 1935; with his death his titles became extinct. Lady Byng returned to Canada to live with friends during World War II. She died in 1949.

Web links

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