Portal:Military history of Australia/Selected biography/5

Field Marshal Lord William Riddell Birdwood (13 September 1865 – 17 May 1951) was a World War I general who is best known as the commander of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. From 1899 to 1902, during the Second Boer War, Birdwood served as a military secretary on the staff of Lord Kitchener an association that continued in India until the outbreak of World War I. In November 1914, Birdwood was instructed to form an army corps of Australian and New Zealand troops training in Egypt. Birdwood lead these men during the landing at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915. After the evacuation from Gallipoli, Birdwood took command of the newly formed II Anzac Corps. When the I Anzac Corps become the first corp to departed for France as senior commander Birdwood swapped with General Alexander Godley. On the 31 May 1918, Birdwood attained command of the British Fifth Army, with command of the Australian Corps passing to Lieutenant General John Monash.