Edmund Allenby

The ashes of Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, were buried in the Warriors Chapel (now St George's chapel) in Westminster Abbey on 19th May 1936. The inscription on the small gravestone reads simply:

ALLENBY Field Marshal 1861-1936.

He was born on 23rd April 1861 in Nottinghamshire, a son of Hynman Allenby and his wife Catherine. He was educated at Haileybury College but failed to get into the Indian Civil Service so joined the army. In 1896 he married Adelaide Chapman. Their only son Michael was killed in 1917. Allenby served in South Africa and commanded a cavalry division in the Great War, fighting at Mons, Ypres and Arras. He was then posted to Palestine and captured Jerusalem from the Turks in 1917. The battle of Megiddo was a triumph for the cavalry but its use in war was coming to an end. He was raised to the peerage as Viscount Allenby of Megiddo. Then he was appointed administrator in Egypt and finally retired and was granted the use of Deal Castle in Kent. He died on 14th May 1936. His widow was buried with him in 1942.

Further reading

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2004