Catalogue description Major General G P Dawnay CB CMG DSO MVO

This record is held by Imperial War Museum (IWM) Department of Documents

Details of GPD
Reference: GPD
Title: Major General G P Dawnay CB CMG DSO MVO
Description:

An extensive collection of personal and official correspondence, a short diary (October 1915 - January 1916), official reports, memoranda and signals relating to his service during the First World War as GSO2, Operations Section Mediterranean Expeditionary Force at Gallipoli under General Sir Ian Hamilton (April - November 1915); GSO1 Operations Section MEF under Generals Sir Charles Monro and Sir William Birdwood (November 1915 - January 1916); GSO1, Operations Section GHQ Egyptian Expeditionary Force under General Sir Archibald Murray (January - September 1916); Brigadier General, General Staff, Eastern Force (Egypt and Palestine) under Generals Sir Charles Dobell and Sir Philip Chetwode (September 1916 - August 1917); BGGS EEF under General Edmund Allenby (August 1917 - February 1918); Major General, General Staff GHQ British Armies in France under Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig (February - March 1918); and MGGS on Staff Duties at BHQ France (March 1918 - May 1919); together with interwar correspondence with Wavell, speeches and articles from 1920 - 1927, correspondence with the press and his own poetry. The collection principally relates to the Gallipoli campaign and the war in Egypt and Palestine, 1915 - 1917, and contains many important personal and official assessments by Dawnay of tactics and strategy in the First World War, reflecting his close involvement with many of the most senior military and political figures at that time.

Date: 1915 - 1946
Held by: Imperial War Museum (IWM) Department of Documents, not available at The National Archives
Language: English
Creator:

Dawnay, Guy Payan, 1878-1952, Major General

Physical description: 6 Boxes, 25 Volumes
Physical condition: Original documents
Custodial history:

The papers of Major-General Dawnay were given to the Museum by his widow, Cecil Dawnay, in July-August 1965 and May 1966. They comprise twenty five bound volumes (the papers were put into volumes by us) of personal and official correspondence, a short diary (October 1915-January 1916), official reports, memoranda and signals from the First World War, interwar correspondence with Wavell, speeches and articles, 1920-27, correspondence with the press, and poetry. They principally relate to the Gallipoli campaign and the war in Egypt and Palestine, 1915-1917, and contain many important personal and official assessments by Dawnay of tactics and strategy in the First World War, reflecting his close involvement with many of the most senior military and political figures at that time.

Subjects:
  • Egyptian Expeditionary Force
  • Mediterranean Expeditionary Force
  • Dardanelles, Ottoman Empire
  • Egypt
  • Palestine
  • Army personnel
  • First World War, 1914-1918
  • Dardanelles campaign, 1915-1916
Administrative / biographical background:

General Dawnay held the following appointments during the 1914-18 War:

 

April-November 1915: GSO2, Operations Section, Mediterranean and Expeditionary Force (Gallipoli) under Hamilton.

 

November 1915-January 1916: GSO1, Operations Section MEF, under Monro and Birdwood.

 

January-September 1916: GSO1, Operations Section, GHQ Egyptian Expeditionary Force under Murray.

 

September 1916-August 1917: Brigadier-General, General Staff (BGGS), Eastern Force (Egypt/Palestine) under Dobell and Chetwoode.

 

August 1917-February 1918: BGGS Egyptian Expeditionary Force, under Allenby.

 

February-March 1918: Major-General, General Staff, GHQ British Armies in France under Haig.

 

March 1918-May 1919: MGGS (Staff Duties) BHQ, France.

 

General Dawnay died on 19 January 1952. As far as we are aware his widow is now dead also.

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