Aylmer Haldane

General Sir James Aylmer Lowthorpe Haldane GCMG, KCB, DSO (17 November 1862 – 19 April 1950) was a senior British Army officer with a long and distinguished career.

Early life
Born to physician Daniel Rutherford Haldane and his wife Charlotte Elizabeth née Lowthorpe, James Aylmer Lowthorpe Haldane came from a family of distinguished Scottish aristocrats based in Gleneagles.

Military career
In 1882, at the age of 20, Aylmer was commissioned as a British officer of the Gordon Highlanders. On 18 February 1886, he was promoted to Lieutenant.

Between 1894 and 1895, Haldane was part of the Waziristan Field Force and participated in the Chitral Expedition. Promoted to Captain on 13 Aug 1896, he was soon dispatched to quell the Afridis rebellion in the Tirah campaign for the next two years (1897–1898). He became aide-de-camp to the Commander-in-Chief East Indies in 1898 and then fought in the Second Boer War. While imprisoned in Pretoria during the Boer War, he planned the escape which made Winston Churchill famous. Haldane failed to escape at the same time and later complained of Churchill's lack of regard for those who should have escaped with him. However, Haldane later managed his own escape.

Awarded the DSO on 20 May 1898, he was promoted to Major in 1902 and to brevet Lieutenant-Colonel on 24 July of that year. He became military attaché with the Japanese Army in 1904. Promoted to brevet Colonel, he was appointed a CB on 16 March 1906, receiving confirmation as a substantive Colonel in November. On 1 October 1909, Haldane was promoted to temporary Brigadier-General and in 1910 become Commander of 10th Infantry Brigade.

He fought in World War I initially as General Officer Commanding 3rd Division, then part of the British Expeditionary Force. He was given command of 6th Army Corps in France in 1916.

After the War he was appointed General Officer Commanding Mesopotamia 1920 remaining in that post until 1922; he retired in 1925.

Later life and death
Haldane died on 19 April 1950, at his home in London and was buried at Brookwood Cemetery.

Honours and decorations

 * Order of the Sacred Treasure, Japan, 1905.

Selected works
Haldane's published writings encompass 6 works in 8 publications in 1 language and 311 library holdings.


 * Haldane, James A. L. (1900) How we escaped from Pretoria. Edinburgh : William Blackwood & Sons.
 * Haldane, James A. L. (1920) A brigade of the old army, 1914, relating to operations of 10 Infantry Bde, France, Aug–Nov 1914. London : Edward Arnold.
 * Haldane, Lieutenant General Sir Aylmer (1922) The Insurrection in Mesopotamia. London: William Blackwood & Sons.
 * Haldane, James A. L. (1929) The Haldanes of Gleneagles. Edinburgh : William Blackwood & Sons.
 * Haldane, James A. L. (1948) A soldier's story: the autobiography of General Sir Aylmer Haldane. Edinburgh : William Blackwood & Sons.

Papers

 * LIDDELL HART CENTRE FOR MILITARY ARCHIVES
 * The papers of Lt Gen Sir Lawrence Worthington Parsons include letter from Haldane relating to 16 Irish Div 1916; the papers of Brig Sir James Edward Edmonds include 12 letters from Haldane 1905–1935 (ref: Edmonds)


 * BRITISH LIBRARY, ORIENTAL AND INDIA OFFICE COLLECTIONS, LONDON
 * Copy of Haldane's official report, Battle of the Sha-Ho, Second Japanese Army, operations from the 5 September to the 19 October 1904 (ref: 9057.de.2)


 * CHURCHILL ARCHIVES CENTRE, CHURCHILL COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
 * The papers of Maj Gen Sir Edward Louis Spears include correspondence 1934–1938 (ref: SPRS 1/156)


 * IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM, LONDON
 * Diary as 10 Bde Commander, Shorncliffe 1912–1914; The papers of FM Sir Henry Hughes Wilson include correspondence with Haldane 1920–1921 (ref: HHW)


 * NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND, EDINBURGH
 * Collection of papers 1890–1950 (ref: MSS 20247-59); including letters and diaries; papers relating to his World War I service; papers relating to Mesopotamia 1920–1922