Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton

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Sir Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton
16 January 1853 – 12 October 1947 (aged 94)
Image:Japanese General Kuroki Tamemoto and British Officier Sir Ian Hamilton.jpg Sir Ian Hamilton during the Russo-Japanese War
Place of birth	Corfu Image:UK Ionian Ensign.png United States of the Ionian Islands
Place of death	London, England, Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
Allegiance	British Empire
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1873-19
Rank	General
Commands	1st Gordon Highlanders; Commandant, School of Musketry at Hythe; Colonel - 9th Royal Scots, 3rd Manchester Regiment, and the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders; 7th Brigade (South Africa); Mediterranean Expeditionary Force
Battles/wars	Second Anglo-Afghan War; First Boer War; Mahdist War; North West Frontier skirmishes; Second Boer War; Russo-Japanese War; World War I (Battle of Gallipoli)
Awards	GCB GCMG DSO TD RAO OC Spanish Order of Merit Order of the Sacred Treasures
Relations	Colonel Christian Monteith Hamilton (father); first Duke of Marlborough
Other work	Aide-de-camp to Sir Frederick Roberts (1882-1893); Military Secretary to C-in-C for India, Sir George White (1893-95) Deputy Quartermaster-General, India (1895-1897) Chief of Staff for Lord Kitchener (1899-1901) Quartermaster-General (1903-05) General Officer Commanding Southern Command (1905-09) Adjutant-General of the Army (1909-10) General Officer Commanding Mediterranean and Inspector-General of Overseas Forces (1910-1914) Commander-in-Chief of Home Forces (1914-1915) Lieutenant of the Tower (1918-20) Rector of the University of Edinburgh (1932-35)

General Sir Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton GCB GCMG DSO TD (January 16, 1851 – October 12, 1947) was a general in the British Army and is most notably known for commanding the ill-fated Mediterranean Expeditionary Force during the Battle of Gallipoli.

Hamilton's military career began in 1871 and he served in India and Africa. He was wounded in the wrist in the First Boer War (1881), leaving one of his hands almost useless. He was Chief of Staff to Lord Kitchener during the Second Boer War and was knighted in 1902.

Kitchener appointed Hamilton to command the Allied expedition to gain control of the Dardanelles straits from Turkey and capture Constantinople.

In retirement, Hamilton was a leading figure in the ex-servicemen organization, the British Legion holding the position of Scottish President. He was also a founding member and vice-president of the Anglo-German Association in 1928 which promoted pro-German sentiment in Britain. Hamilton remained with the Association after Adolf Hitler's rise to power and described himself as "an admirer of the great Adolph [sic] Hitler," dismissing Mein Kampf as a youthful excess. Hamilton also expressed anti-Semitic sentiments and supported a proposed ban by the Association on Jewish members - the ban was not implemented, instead the Association dissolved on April 2, 1935 in light of the worsening situation in Germany.^[1]