Robert Fanshawe

Who was Robert Fanshawe?

Major-General Sir Robert Fanshawe KCB, DSO was a British Army general during the First World War, who commanded the 48th Division from 1915 to 1918. He was the youngest of three brothers who all rose to command divisions or corps during the war.

Fanshawe joined the Oxfordshire Light Infantry in 1883, and served with his regiment in India until the Boer War, where he commanded a mobile column and was mentioned in despatches. At the outbreak of the First World War he was on the staff of the British Expeditionary Force, and later commanded a regular brigade on the Western Front, before being promoted to divisional command in 1915. He commanded the 48th Division for three years, including service at the Somme, Ancre, Paaschendale, and on the Italian Front, before being removed from command after his corps commander objected to his defensive strategy. He was relegated to commanding a second-line home service division, and retired from the Army in 1918.