Generall Sir Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton GCB GCMB DSO TD 1853-1947

Commissioned from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he served in the Gordon Highlanders in the Afghan War 1879, then in the First Boer War 1881 the Nile expetition 1882-85, several campaigns in India, and the Second Boer War as Kitchener's chief of staff. He was twice recommended for the Victoria Cross, both not accepted – the first time as too young, the second as too senior.

Hamilton was present during the Russo-Japanese War 1902-05 as military attache to Japan of the Indian Army, noting the emergence of industrialised warfare, and the combination of entrenchments, artillery, machine guns and fire and movement. This prompted him to declare the uselessness of cavalry in such warfare, and support for night attacks and aircraft.

Although his command of the Gallipoli campaign was generally criticised on the outcome, Australian war historian C.E.W. Bean assessed him as 'a breadth of mind which the army in general does not possess'.

Appointed GOC Mediterranean and Inspector-General of the Overseas Forces in 1910 he inspected the Australian Commonwealth Military Forces immediately before the outbreak of World War 2 and reported very favourably on the state of the Australian Army Service Corps as 'this is a highly satisfactory and efficient branch of the Commonwealth Service’

After the Gallipoli withdrawal he was given a sinecure, but in the postwar years became active in the British Legion.