Lieutenant General Sir Edward Owen Fisher Hamilton KCB
1914-1920
Sir Edward Hamilton was born on 17th February 1854, son of WJ Hamilton
of Fiddown, County Kilkenny, Ireland.
He was gazetted as Lieutenant to 1st Battalion The Queen's in 1873; served in the Afghan War, 1878-80 as ADC to Major General Primrose; promoted Captain in 1883 he served with the 2nd Battalion in the Burmah War, 1886-87, and during April to August 1887 as Brigade Major to Sir William Lockhart commanding a brigade. He then became Brigade Major at Cawapore 1887-88, and Inspector of Signalling, Punjab and Bengal, 1888-93; served in the Hazara Expedition, 1891, as Superintendent of Signalling, once again he served with Sir William Lockhart in Tochi Valley in 1895. He served with the Malakand Field Force, 1897 as DAAG 2nd Brigade under Brigadier General Jeffreys.
He was with the 2nd Battalion The Queen's, as Second-in-Command in the Tirah Expeditionary Force in 1897-98. Became a Brevet Lieutenant Colonel and commanded the 2nd Battalion The Queen's in South Africa in 1899, and then from April 1900 to the end of the war he was Brigadier-General commanding a Brigade from 1902-07. Promoted Major General in 1906; he became GOC Troops West Africa 1908-11; Lieutenant General and GOC Troops, Guernsey and Alderney District, 1911-14. He retired from service in 1914 and became Colonel, The Queen's Royal (West Surrey) Regiment 1914-1920. He married Isabel, daughter of General PHF Harris CB. He and his wife had a son and two daughters.
During his service he was awarded the following medals and decorations,
Mentioned in Despatches 14 times,
Afghanistan Medal, 1878, 1 bar, Kandahar
India General Service Medal, 1854. 4 bars, Burma 1885-7, Burma 1887-89, Hazara 1891, Waziristan 1894-5
India General Service Medal, 1895. 2 bars, Punjab Frontier 1897-98, Tirah 1897-98
Queen's South Africa Medal, 1899. 5 bars, Tugela Heights, Orange Free State, Relief of Ladysmith, Transvaal,
Laing's Nek
King's South Africa Medal, 1901, 2 bars
Coronation Medal, 1911
Jubilee Medal, 1935
With a wealth of experience behind him, his term of command was to see both him and the Regiment through the difficult and dangerous times of the First World War.
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