| Cecil Aspinall-Oglander | |
| Birth Name: | Cecil Faber Aspinall |
| Birth Date: | 8 February 1878 |
| Birth Place: | Wrexham, Wales |
| Allegiance: | United Kingdom |
| Branch: | British Army |
| Serviceyears: | 1898–1920 |
| Rank: | Brigadier General |
| Battles: | Third Ashanti Expedition Second Boer War North-West Frontier First World War |
| Awards: | Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George Distinguished Service Order Mentioned in Despatches (10) Knight of the Legion of Honour (France) Knight Commander of the Order of the White Elephant (Siam) |
| Laterwork: | Historian |
Brigadier General Cecil Faber Aspinall-Oglander (8 February 1878 – 23 May 1959)Book: Aspinall-Oglander, Brig.-Gen. Cecil Faber, (8 Feb. 1878–23 May 1959) . subscription . Aspinall-Oglander, Brig.-Gen. Cecil Faber, (8 Feb. 1878–23 May 1959), DL . 1 December 2007 . WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO . 10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U234197 . 978-0-19-954089-1 . 26 September 2020 . was a British Army officer and military historian, noted for his works on the First World War.
Cecil Faber Aspinall was born in Wrexham, Wales, on 8 February 1878, the eldest son of Henry Edmund Aspinall and Kate née Williams. He received his formal education at the Isle of Wight College, and Rugby School.Web site: LOT 506 Orders and decorations and medals to Brigadier-General Cecil Faber Aspinall-Oglander . April 2019 . Woolley and Wallis auctioneers . 26 September 2020 . The regimentally unique group of orders and decorations to Brigadier-General Cecil Faber Aspinall-Oglander, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., Royal Munster Fusiliers, chief of staff of the Royal Naval Division in France, and more widely known as one of General Sir Ian Hamilton's most trusted aides throughout the Gallipoli campaign, of which he was author of the Official History..
Aspinall was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 4th Volunteer Battalion, East Surrey Regiment, on 12 January 1898,[1] and was promoted to lieutenant before transferring to the 7th (Royal South Middlesex Militia) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers on 19 April 1900.[2] Although the 7th Royal Fusiliers had not yet been embodied for full-time service (it served in home defence during the Second Boer War), Aspinall was immediately seconded for service in West Africa.[3] [4] [5] He served with the West African Frontier Force in the Third Ashanti Expedition and was mentioned in Colonel James Willcocks' despatch for his good work during an attack on the fortified village of Obassa during the fierce fighting on 30 September that effectively ended the campaign.[6]
After the Ashanti campaign, Aspinall was granted a regular commission as a second lieutenant in the Royal Munster Fusiliers (RMF) backdated to April 1900 but did not join the regiment until October 1900.[7] [8] He was seconded for service with the Army Service Corps in the Second Boer War, and served with it in operations in Cape Colony from August to December 1901 and in Orange River Colony from February to May 1902.[9] He was promoted to lieutenant in the RMF on 6 February 1902.[10]
Aspinall was promoted to captain on 2 August 1908 and having passed staff college he served as a staff captain and General Staff Officer Grade 3 (GSO3) at Army Headquarters in India for four years from 26 January 1909. From 1 October 1913 he was at the War Office in London as a GSO2.[11]
On the outbreak of the First World War, Aspinall was working as a GSO2 under the Director of Staff Duties at the War Office.[12] In March 1915, he was informed that he would be joining the staff of Sir Ian Hamilton's Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. He was one of Hamilton's most trusted aides during the Gallipoli campaign (1915–1916), where his actions saw him mentioned in despatches six times.[13] On 7 August 1916 he was appointed chief of staff (GSO1) of the 63rd (Royal Naval) Division, involved in the final phase of the Somme operations and the at Arras and Ypres in 1917.[14] On 18 November 1917, Aspinall moved up to be Brigadier-General General Staff of VIII Corps and remained in this role for the remainder of the war. [15]
Aspinall retired from the army in 1920 and was employed by the Historical Section of the British Committee of Imperial Defence, researching and writing the text of several volumes of the History of the Great War#GallipoliBritish Official History of the Gallipoli campaign.
Graham & Bidwell write that in 1924 Aspinall-Oglander, assisted by JFC Fuller, then a senior instructor at Camberley Staff College, published on behalf of the War Office “Volume II (Operations)”, which from the context appears to have been an extension of the recent republication of the prewar Field Service Regulations.[16]
During the Second World War Aspinall-Oglander raised and commanded the 20th (East Wight) Battalion, Hampshire Home Guard.Web site: An impressive set of medals awarded to the official historian of the Gallipoli campaign has sold at auction for £30,000. . 1 May 2019 . Woolley and Wallis auctioneers . 26 September 2020 . Medals sold at auction for £30,000 An impressive set of medals awarded to the official historian of the Gallipoli campaign has sold at auction [on 1 May 2019] for £30,000.Brigadier-General Cecil Faber Aspinall-Oglander, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O. is remembered as one of Sir Ian Hamilton's most trusted aides during the campaign, and his actions saw him mentioned in despatches over a dozen times..
Aspinall-Oglander died in his 81st year at Nunwell, on the Isle of Wight, on 23 April 1959. This location was long associated with the Oglander baronets. His second wife, Joan Oglander, came from a long line of descendants that had lived at Nunwell.