'Lions Led By Donkeys'
Walter Haworth ('Bob') Greenly
Major-General
CB CMG DSO, GOC Cavalry Division and GOC Infantry Division
Eton College RMC Sandhurst psc
19th Hussars
Walter Howorth (‘Bob’) Greenly was the eldest son of
Edward Howorth Greenly, of Titley Court, Herefordshire. He was commissioned in
the 12th Lancers on 20 February 1895 and served as Adjutant of his regiment in
the South African War (1 May 1900-22 August 1902), where he won a DSO. Greenly’s
profile as an ambitious professional was confirmed by his passing staff college
in December 1905. He spent the period January 1906 until January 1912 entirely
in staff positions, principally with the cavalry in Aldershot Command, a place
where a man could attract notice. This appears to have happened. On 2 January
1912 he was ‘fast-tracked’ to command of the 19th Hussars. It was his 37th
birthday. On mobilisation, 19th Hussars were split up as divisional cavalry and
Greenly had no opportunity to command the regiment in action.
On 19 September 1914 he was appointed GSO1 2nd (Cavalry)
Division, recently formed under the command of Hubert Gough. He remained
in this post until 14 April 1915, when he was promoted GOC 9th (Cavalry)
Brigade, 1st (Cavalry) Division. He was 40. From November 1915 until November
1916 he was BGGS (chief of staff) XIII Corps, commanded by Sir Walter
Congreve. XIII Corps was heavily engaged on the Somme and achieved the
greatest success on 1 July, including the capture of Montauban. Even this pace
of promotion seemed too slow for Greenly, however. He was restless for command
and, in November 1916, succeeded in escaping the staff ‘ghetto’ to become
GOC 2nd (Cavalry) Division.
He was an undoubted success. Colonel W N Nicholson, no
uncritical admirer of generals, described Greenly as ‘good as one could wish’
as a divisional commander. Greenly was clever enough to realise, however, that
command of a cavalry division on the Western Front provided an able and
ambitious man with very limited opportunities. He lobbied for command of an
infantry division and, on 22 March 1918, he succeeded in getting one. This
brought his glittering career to an immediate and humiliating halt. Greenly’s
new command, 14th (Light) Division, felt the full force of the German Spring
Offensive. According to an official report by the GOC III Corps, Sir Richard
Butler, during the period 22-27 March ‘14th Division was engaged
continuously day and night under very difficult conditions and suffered very
heavy losses. Major-General Greenly handled a new and difficult situation with
energy, ability and calm. He was confronted with a difficult problem, and
succeeded in concentrating and withdrawing the 14th Division from a situation
which at one time looked critical.’ But the personal cost was high.
On 28 March Greenly reported in person to the GOC Cavalry
Corps, Sir Charles Kavanagh, that ‘he found himself incapable of
thinking clearly and could not trust himself to issue orders’. He was
consequently relieved of command, suffering ‘exhaustion from exposure’. Haig
recorded more brutally in his diary that ‘Greenly … went off his head with
the strain’. Nevertheless, Haig recommended that Greenly be considered for a
staff or field command after a six-month period of rest at home. But, by then,
the war was almost over. Greenly never returned to active service and retired in
1920 after a two-year tour as Chief of the Military Mission to Romania. His Who’s
Who entry makes no mention of his command of 14th Division.
John Bourne
Centre for First World War Studies
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