Field Marshal Sir John French GCVO KCB KCMG

General Officer Commanding at Aldershot, 1902-1907

Born on 28 September 1852, French was commissioned in February 1874 into the 8th Hussars and later the 19th Hussars. By February 1885, he was a Lieutenant Colonel and in 1899 French was Major General at the Cavalry Brigade in Aldershot. French served in the South Africa wars between 1899 and 1902 as a Lieutenant General and became GOC of Aldershot in September 1902.

In 1907 he was promoted to the rank of General and then to Field Marshal in June 1913. French was Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force from August 1914 to December 1915, then Commander of the Home Forces till May 1918.

He died in 1925.