Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 25, 2012



Harry Chauvel (1865–1945) was a senior officer of the Australian Imperial Force who fought at Gallipoli and in the Middle East during the First World War. He was the first Australian to attain the rank of lieutenant general and later general, and the first to lead a corps. The son of a grazier, Chauvel was commissioned in 1886 as a captain in a unit organised by his father. After seeing service during the 1891 Australian shearers' strike, he became a regular officer in 1896, and commanded a company of the Queensland Mounted Infantry in the Boer War. He commanded the 1st Light Horse Brigade and later the 1st Division at Gallipoli. In March 1916, Chauvel became commander of the Anzac Mounted Division. He won victories at Romani and Magdhaba, and nearly won the First Battle of Gaza. At Beersheba in October 1917, his light horse captured the town and its vital water supply in one of history's last great cavalry charges. By September 1918, Chauvel was able to effect a secret redeployment of three of his mounted divisions and launch a surprise attack on the enemy that won the Battle of Megiddo. After the war, Chauvel was appointed Inspector General, the Army's most senior post. (more...)

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