Aylmer Hunter-Weston

Lieutenant General Sir Aylmer Gould Hunter-Weston, (23 September 1864 – 18 March 1940) was a British Army officer who served in the First World War at Gallipoli in 1915 and in the very early stages of the Somme Offensive in 1916. He was also a Scottish Unionist MP. Nicknamed "Hunter-Bunter", Hunter-Weston has been seen as a classic example of a "donkey" general; he was described by his superior, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, as a "rank amateur", and has been referred to by one modern writer as "one of the Great War's spectacular incompetents". However, another historian writes that although his poor performance at the battles of Krithia earned his reputation "as one of the most brutal and incompetent commanders of the First World War" "in his later battles (at Gallipoli) he seemed to hit upon a formula for success ...(but) these small achievements were largely forgotten". Early life Hunter-Weston was born at Hunterston, West Kilbride, on 23 September 1864, the son of Lieutenant-Colonel John Gould Read Hunter-Weston (1823–1904) and his second wife, who was the daughter and heir of the 25th Laird of Hunterston. He was educated at Wellington College 1875–82 and Woolwich in 1882, then was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1884. Early military career He was promoted captain in 1892. He served on the Indian North West Frontier and took part in the Miranzai Expedition of 1891 and was wounded during the Waziristan Expedition of 1894–95. He was promoted to brevet major in 1895.