Alister Dallas Explained

Alister Dallas
Birth Date:10 June 1866
Birth Place:Kensington, London
Death Date:2 February 1931
Death Place:Hambledon, Hampshire
Allegiance:United Kingdom
Rank:Major-General
Branch:British Army
Commands:32nd Brigade
53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division
Battles:Second Boer War
First World War
Awards:Companion of the Order of the Bath
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George
Order of the White Eagle, 2nd Class (Serbia)

Major-General Alister Grant Dallas (10 June 1866 – 2 February 1931) was a British Army officer.

Military career

Born the son of Alexander Grant Dallas, JP, DL and Mabel Alice Brooke,[1] Dallas was commissioned into the 16th The Queen's Lancers as a lieutenant on 23 August 1886.

He was promoted to captain on 7 March 1892, and in 1897 served in the campaign in the North West Frontier of India, first as orderly officer to Major-General Penn Symons, commanding 2nd brigade, Tochi Field Force, and then followed Symons as aide-de-camp when he commanded the 1st division in the Tirah campaign. During the latter, he was present at the capture of the Sampagha and Arhanga passes (October 1897), the reconnaisance of the Saran Sar, operations in the Waran an Mastura Valleys and forcing of the Sapri pass (November 1897). For his service in this expedition he was mentioned in despatches and received the India Medal with two clasps.[2]

He served in the Second Boer War, where he was wounded.[3] After this war, he became Commandant of the School of Musketry in South Africa in 1907[1] and then became chief of staff to Sir Henry Rawlinson, commanding IV Corps on the Western Front in late 1914 at the start of the First World War.[4] Rawlinson made staff changes in August 1915 and Dallas became commander of 32nd Brigade in the Gallipoli Campaign.[1] After being evacuated from Gallipoli, Dallas became General Officer Commanding the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division in Egypt in January 1916 and saw action with his division at the First and Second Battles of Gaza, in which his division suffered significant losses, in March and April 1917.[5] He handed over command of his division in April 1917.[6]

Notes and References

  1. Who was Who, 1929–1940
  2. Hart′s Army list, 1901
  3. The War - Casualties. 29 March 1900 . 8 . 36102.
  4. Book: Atwood, Rodney. General Lord Rawlinson: From Tragedy to Triumph. 124. Bloomsbury Academic. 2018. 978-1474246989.
  5. Book: Anglesey, Lord . A History of the British Cavalry: Volume 5: 1914-1919 Egypt, Palestine and Syria. 77. Pen and Sword. 1994. 978-0850523959.
  6. Web site: Army Commands. 7 June 2020.