Herbert Garland

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Herbert Garland
Garland in Arabia, December 1917
Born1880
Sheffield, England
Died2 April 1921 (aged 40–41)
England
Buried
Gravesend
AllegianceUnited Kingdom United Kingdom / British Empire
Service/branchBritish Army
RankMajor
Battles/wars
Awards

Major Herbert Garland

Officer of the Order of the British Empire
, Garland became director of the Arab Bureau after the war and was involved in the post-war negotiations for the future of Arabia. Returning from Egypt because of poor health, Garland died within days of setting foot in England.

Early career

Garland was born in

First World War was Superintendent of Laboratories at the Cairo Citadel, Egypt, where he had received a grant from the Chemical Society to research ancient Egyptian alloys.[2][4] He was elected a fellow of the society the same year.[5] He was one of the first to study the crystalline structures of ancient metals by polishing, etching and examination by microscope.[6] He had three papers published in the Cairo Scientific Journal in 1913-4 entitled Ancient Egyptian Metal Tools; Outlines of Metallography and Some Physical Properties of Tin.[7]

First World War

A surviving Garland Trench Mortar

Initially involved with the development of new weapons, Garland devised the

Garland Trench Mortar, a 65mm calibre improvised device that was trialled by Australian forces at Gallipoli.[10][7]

Garland, who spoke Arabic, was assigned to British Intelligence's

Jiddah, recently captured by Arab forces.[12]

He taught me how to be familiar with high explosive. Sappers handled it like a sacrament, but Garland would shove a handful of detonators into his pocket with a string of primers, fuse, and fusees and jump gaily on his camel for a week's ride to the Hejaz railway.

TE Lawrence[3]

On 2 and 3 December 1916 Garland commanded the Arab forces inside the town during the Battle of Yanbu.[13] The Arabs numbered no more than 1,500 men and the Ottomans were expected to descend upon the town imminently.[14] Garland saw to it that a defensive trench was dug by the townsfolk, barbed wire entanglements were established, machine gun positions were correctly sited and the towns' 300-year-old coral walls were strengthened.[11][14] He even brought into service an old Turkish cannon that, in Garlands words, was "apt to fire astern instead of forward".[11] With the supporting gunfire and searchlights of five Royal Navy vessels he held off advancing Ottoman forces in a relatively bloodless victory that ensured the continuance of the Arab Revolt.[11][13] The searchlights were thought by one of Garland's men to have been key to winning the battle, being used to discourage an Ottoman attack by highlighting the coverless plain that had to be crossed prior to reaching the town.[11]

The Hejaz railway which Garland sought to disrupt

One of Garland's contact mines derailed an Ottoman locomotive in 1917, in what some consider the first such attack on a moving train.

Officer of the Order of the British Empire and mentioned in dispatches several times.[4]

Post-war

Garland transferred to the

Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca.[22]

In 1921 Garland left Egypt on health grounds, returning to England on 28 March. He died suddenly on 2 April of a ruptured

Liverpool University.[2]

Garland's papers are archived at the Imperial War Museum, London,[7] having been donated by his daughter, Mena.

Bibliography

  • Garland, Herbert (1906). Diverse Affections: a Romance of Guernsey. The Century Press.
  • Garland, Herbert; Bannister, Charles Olden (1927). Ancient Egyptian Metallurgy. Charles Griffin & Company.

References

  1. VIAF
    . Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Priaulx Library". Priaulx Library. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e Alleyne, Richard. "Garland of Arabia: the forgotten story of TE Lawrence's brother-in-arms". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e Garland, Herbert; Bannister, C. O. (1927). Ancient Egyptian Metallurgy. Charles Griffin & Company.
  5. ^ Crookes, William (1913). The Chemical News and Journal of Industrial Science; with which is Incorporated the "Chemical Gazette.". Chemical Society. p. 272.
  6. ISBN 9780520080300
    .
  7. ^ a b c "Private Papers Major H Garland MBE MC (Documents.12477)". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  8. ^ a b Coughlan, Sean (4 April 2012). "Lawrence of Arabia's lost hero scientist". BBC. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  9. ISBN 9781853676536
    .
  10. ^ "Garland Trench Mortar : Lone Pine, Gallipoli". Australian War Museum. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  11. ^
    ISBN 9780747585534
    .
  12. ISBN 9781846033391
    .
  13. ^
    ISBN 9781851094202
    .
  14. ^
    ISBN 9780140258547
    .
  15. ISBN 9781412815147
    .
  16. ^ "No. 30222". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 August 1917. p. 8105.
  17. ^ "No. 30730". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 June 1918. p. 6726.
  18. ^ "No. 31659". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 November 1919. p. 14636.
  19. ^ "No. 31736". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 January 1920. p. 704.
  20. ^ "No. 31979". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 July 1920. p. 7541.
  21. ^ "No. 32067". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 September 1920. p. 9589.
  22. ISBN 978-0271007946
    .
  23. ^ "Pension Record". National Archives. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
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