William Furse

Lieutenant General Sir William Thomas Furse KCB KCMG DSO (1865–1953) was a Master-General of the Ordnance.

Military career
Educated at the Royal Grammar School, Guildford, Furse was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1884. He was Aide-de-Camp to Lord Roberts from 1891 to 1893.

He served in the Second Boer War as a Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General at Army Headquarters. In 1911 he was appointed Commander 12th (Howitzer) Brigade Royal Field Artillery.

He served in World War I initially as a General Staff Officer on the British Expeditionary Force and then as General Officer Commanding 9th (Scottish) Division from 1915. He was made Master-General of the Ordnance in 1916; in this capacity he opposed the introduction of the Madsen machine gun, preferring the Lewis gun. He retired in 1920.