Philip Howell

Brigadier-General Philip Howell, (7 December 1877 – 7 October 1916) was a senior British Army staff officer during the First World War. He was, successively, Brigadier General, General Staff (BGGS) to the Cavalry Corps and then to X Corps. In October 1915 he was posted as BGGS to the British Salonika Army before appointment as BGGS and second-in-command to II Corps, then forming part of the Fifth Army at the Battle of Somme in 1916.

Howell was killed in action at Authuille by shrapnel on 7 October 1916, after making a personal reconnaissance of the frontline near Thiepval during the later Somme offensives. Howell had been in action on the front line since the outbreak of the war, serving with the British Expeditionary Force, and commanding the 4th Queen's Own Hussars through the retreat from Mons, the Battle of Le Cateau, the Marne offensive, Hill 60, and the First Battle of Ypres. He was mentioned in despatches six times, and made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1915 for "meritorious service".

Howell came from a military family. After education at Lancing College and passing out from the Royal Military College, Sandhurst with honours, he joined the elite Queen's Own Corps of Guides as a subaltern in 1900. Aged 25, he was made brigade major by Major General Douglas Haig, when Haig was Inspector-General of Cavalry, India. This was the start of a lifelong friendship between Haig and Howell. Howell's interests were more extensive than soldiering, and he travelled throughout the Balkan region, becoming a correspondent for ''The Times'' and an expert on the local politics of the Near East. This experience and a formidable intellect led to his becoming a senior instructor at the Staff College, Camberley. He had himself attended the Staff College, Quetta, in India in 1903–04.

It was expected, even amongst the highest military circles, that had Howell not been killed in action he would have reached the highest command in the British Army. This was certainly the view of many of his contemporaries and peers. At the age of 37, he was gazetted as brigadier general in September 1915 and, rather than holding "temporary" rank, was the youngest fully promoted general officer in the British Army during the First World War. Of military significance was his direct role in the strategic planning of the later conclusive actions of the Somme Offensive; the successful battles of Thiepval Ridge and Ancre Heights. These used more sophisticated planned attacks using techniques such as synchronised barrages, the use of a limited number of tanks and proper briefing of field commanders. Lieutenant General Sir Claud Jacob, is quoted as saying that much of what his II Corps achieved during the Somme was owed to Howell's efforts, and in fact he had left much of the daily command to Howell, who was a man of exceptional capability. Provided by Wikipedia