Генерал Генри Хорн: Военный путь в Первой мировой войне.

Military officer in the British Army during the First World War

General Henry Sinclair Horne, 1st Baron Horne, (19 February 1861 – 14 August 1929) was a military officer in the British Army, most notable for his generalship during the First World War, where he commanded at division, corps, and field army level, rising to command the British First Army in 1916, which he held until the armistice of 11 November 1918. He was the only British artillery officer to command an army in the war.

Horne was born on 19 February 1861 in the parish of Wick in Caithness, Scotland, the third son of Major James Horne and Constance Mary Shewell. He was first educated at Harrow, receiving an artillery commission from the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich in May 1880, when he was appointed a lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery. Promotion to captain followed on 17 August 1888, and to major on 23 February 1898.

From 1899 to 1902 Horne fought with the cavalry in the Second Boer War in South Africa under Sir John French. and in the latter stages of the war served as a remount officer and was mentioned in despatches. Following the end of hostilities in June 1902 he returned to England, leaving Cape Town in the SS Norman which arrived in Southampton in late August that year. In 1905 he received the substantive promotion to lieutenant colonel and served with the Royal Horse Artillery under Douglas Haig. His military career was unremarkable until 1912 when he was promoted to brigadier and appointed Inspector of Artillery. His first trial occurred in April 1917, when his troops were sent on a diversionary attack on the fearsome Vimy Ridge, which rose hundreds of feet over the surrounding landscape. French Army commander Robert Nivelle was critical of Horne's plan; Nivelle was the one found incompetent and, after one month of relative failure (and the beginnings of the 1917 French Army mutinies), Nivelle was sacked and replaced with Philippe Pétain. The attack on Vimy Ridge was spearheaded by the First Army's "shock troops" (the Canadian Corps). The ensuing Battle of Vimy Ridge, the first of a series of actions known as the Battle of Arras was successful: supported by Horne's 1,000 odd artillery pieces, the Canadian forces took the ridge in four days, with approximately 10,000 casualties (against 20,000 German casualties). The capture of Vimy Ridge would prove essential to the British Army: it served as the backbone of the British defence from March 1918 onwards. Nivelle's failure and sacking lengthened the actions around Arras. With success imminent, Haig began siphoning troops northward, where many would participate in the Battles of Messines and Passchendaele. The First Army served mainly as a diversion and a placeholder until April 1918. In April, the Germans embarked on the Spring Offensive which was similar to the Allied Somme Offensive two years previously. At first, the attack was successful. On Horne's front, nine German divisions attacked his weak left flank which was manned by two exhausted Portuguese divisions. The Germans advanced six miles to the banks of the River Lawe, where they were repulsed by the 55th (West Lancashire) and the 51st (Highland) Divisions. After this final German offensive, the British took the initiative permanently. Haig's forces embarked on the Hundred Days Offensive, which ended the war; Horne's troops distinguished themselves in the lengthy offensive.

At the end of the war, Horne was created a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. For his wartime services he received the thanks of Parliament and was raised to the peerage as Baron Horne, of Stirkoke in the County of Caithness. He was promoted to head of the Eastern Command in 1919 and retired from the army in 1923. He was appointed Master Gunner of St. James's Park, an honorary position he would hold until his death; he was also appointed Colonel of the Highland Light Infantry. He was the Deputy Governor of the Church Lads' Brigade from November 1923 to February 1925, he then became Governor and Commandant until he passed away.

Lord Horne married Kate (1860 1947), 5th surviving daughter of George McCorquodale (1817 1895), in 1897. While shooting in his Stirkoke estate in August 1929, he suddenly died of unknown causes, at the age of 68. He was buried on his family plot at Wick. Although by a special remainder his title could be inherited by a male grandchild, his only child, daughter Kate (also known as 'Kitten'), also only had daughters so the title became extinct.

It was believed that he had not kept a diary and that his wife had destroyed all his letters after his death, although, in reality, his papers had been handed down to his granddaughters, who had kept them safe. The donation of his extensive papers, which include his diaries and letters, to the Imperial War Museum by the family has allowed his career to be re evaluated.