British Army Field Marshal. He is remembered for his military service during World War I, especially in the ill-fated Gallipoli Campaign in Turkey. Graduating early in 1885, he earned his commission from the Royal Military College in Sandhurst and served with the 12th Lancers and the 11th Bengal Lancers from 1885 to 1887. He was an experienced military officer who served in numerous campaigns in India and in the African War under General Horatio Herbert Kitchener . In 1908 he was awarded the Champion of the Distinguished Service Order and the Champion of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire. He was promoted to major general in 1911 and served as secretary to the Army Department, government of India and in 1912 with the Viceroy's Legislative Council. In November 1914 he was promoted to Lieutenant General in command of the World War I forces raised in Australia and New Zealand. These two countries' armies were combined to become the Australian and New Zealand Army Corp or "ANZACS." He became known as "the soul of ANZACS." From February 7, 1915 to January 9, 1916, he was commander of the combined army during the failed Gallipoli Campaign in Turkey. He was a very cautious commander, affectionately known to others as "Birdie," had the respect of his troops, and often in the trenches near the front line with his men or swimming with them in the ocean waters. He had requested Kitchener for more troops for the Gallipoli Campaign and received them before the April 25th invasion. Under the leadership of Sir Ian Hamilton, he led the landings on the peninsula and then the evacuation eleven months later after losing 180,000 men. During the evacuation, he had to destroy thousands of dollars worth of equipment before it landed in the enemy's hands. Being the commander of the Australian Imperial Forces, he was responsible by 1916 for increasing the Australia Imperial Forces base and its training posts in England. In 1917 he commanded the Fifth Army and in 1925 was promoted to the rank of Field Marshall. His highest goal was to be appointed Governor-General of Australia, but the post was never offered to him as he was not an Australian but an Englishman. He retired in 1930 and in 1938 was made "Baron Birdwell of Anzac and Totnes". He died in Hampton Court Palace, in Middlesex and was buried with full military honors. The Australian government maintains his grave site, and a town in Southern Australia was named in his honor. His autobiography, "Khaki and Gown," was published in 1941 and a shorter book in 1946, "In My Time." His portraits are on display at the Australian War Memorial and the Royal Military College, Canberra as well as the National Gallery of Victoria. Other British awards and honors received were the Knight Grand Cross of Order of Bath, Knight grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India, Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, and Knight of Grace of Venerable Order of St. John. Foreign honors were the Croix de Guerrel from France, Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown from Belgium, Croix de Guerre from Belgium, Distinguished Service Medal from the United States, Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword from Portugal and the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Gun from Japan.
British Army Field Marshal. He is remembered for his military service during World War I, especially in the ill-fated Gallipoli Campaign in Turkey. Graduating early in 1885, he earned his commission from the Royal Military College in Sandhurst and served with the 12th Lancers and the 11th Bengal Lancers from 1885 to 1887. He was an experienced military officer who served in numerous campaigns in India and in the African War under General Horatio Herbert Kitchener . In 1908 he was awarded the Champion of the Distinguished Service Order and the Champion of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire. He was promoted to major general in 1911 and served as secretary to the Army Department, government of India and in 1912 with the Viceroy's Legislative Council. In November 1914 he was promoted to Lieutenant General in command of the World War I forces raised in Australia and New Zealand. These two countries' armies were combined to become the Australian and New Zealand Army Corp or "ANZACS." He became known as "the soul of ANZACS." From February 7, 1915 to January 9, 1916, he was commander of the combined army during the failed Gallipoli Campaign in Turkey. He was a very cautious commander, affectionately known to others as "Birdie," had the respect of his troops, and often in the trenches near the front line with his men or swimming with them in the ocean waters. He had requested Kitchener for more troops for the Gallipoli Campaign and received them before the April 25th invasion. Under the leadership of Sir Ian Hamilton, he led the landings on the peninsula and then the evacuation eleven months later after losing 180,000 men. During the evacuation, he had to destroy thousands of dollars worth of equipment before it landed in the enemy's hands. Being the commander of the Australian Imperial Forces, he was responsible by 1916 for increasing the Australia Imperial Forces base and its training posts in England. In 1917 he commanded the Fifth Army and in 1925 was promoted to the rank of Field Marshall. His highest goal was to be appointed Governor-General of Australia, but the post was never offered to him as he was not an Australian but an Englishman. He retired in 1930 and in 1938 was made "Baron Birdwell of Anzac and Totnes". He died in Hampton Court Palace, in Middlesex and was buried with full military honors. The Australian government maintains his grave site, and a town in Southern Australia was named in his honor. His autobiography, "Khaki and Gown," was published in 1941 and a shorter book in 1946, "In My Time." His portraits are on display at the Australian War Memorial and the Royal Military College, Canberra as well as the National Gallery of Victoria. Other British awards and honors received were the Knight Grand Cross of Order of Bath, Knight grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India, Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, and Knight of Grace of Venerable Order of St. John. Foreign honors were the Croix de Guerrel from France, Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown from Belgium, Croix de Guerre from Belgium, Distinguished Service Medal from the United States, Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword from Portugal and the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Gun from Japan.
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15398747/william_riddell-birdwood: accessed
), memorial page for FM William Riddell Birdwood (13 Sep 1865–17 May 1951), Find a Grave Memorial ID 15398747, citing Twickenham Cemetery, Whitton,
London Borough of Hounslow,
Greater London,
England;
Maintained by Find a Grave.
Add Photos for FM William Riddell Birdwood
Fulfill Photo Request for FM William Riddell Birdwood
Photo Request Fulfilled
Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request
There is an open photo request for this memorial
Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request?
Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s).
Oops, something didn't work. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again.
Make sure that the file is a photo. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced.
All photos uploaded successfully, click on the <b>Done button</b> to see the photos in the gallery.
General photo guidelines:
Photos larger than 8.0 MB will be optimized and reduced.
Each contributor can upload a maximum of 5 photos for a memorial.
A memorial can have a maximum of 20 photos from all contributors.
The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional 10 photos (for a total of 30 on the memorial).
Include gps location with grave photos where possible.
No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments.)
You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial.
Memorial Photos
This is a carousel with slides. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel.
Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried.
Show Map
If the memorial includes GPS coordinates, simply click 'Show Map' to view the gravesite location within the cemetery. If no GPS coordinates are available, you can contribute by adding them if you know the precise location.
Photos
For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab.
Photos Tab
All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer.
Flowers
Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button.
Family Members
Family members linked to this person will appear here.
Related searches
Use the links under See more… to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc.
Sponsor This Memorial
Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option.
Share
Share this memorial using social media sites or email.
Save to
Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print.
Edit or Suggest Edit
Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager.
Have Feedback
Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you.
You may not upload any more photos to this memorial
"Unsupported file type"
Uploading...
Waiting...
Success
Failed
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
Invalid File Type
Uploading 1 Photo
Uploading 2 Photos
1 Photo Uploaded
2 Photos Uploaded
Added by
GREAT NEWS! There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery.
Sorry! There are no volunteers for this cemetery. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request.
Enter numeric value
Enter memorial Id
Year should not be greater than current year
Invalid memorial
Duplicate entry for memorial
You have chosen this person to be their own family member.
Reported!
This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates.
0% Complete
Saved
Sign in or Register
Sign in to Find a Grave
Sign-in to link to existing account
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
We’ve updated the security on the site. Please reset your password.
Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. Please contact Find a Grave at [email protected] if you need help resetting your password.
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
Email not found
Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person.
Sign in to your existing Find a Grave account. You’ll only have to do this once—after your accounts are connected, you can sign in using your Ancestry sign in or your Find a Grave sign in.
We found an existing Find a Grave account associated with your email address. Sign in below with your Find a Grave credentials to link your Ancestry account. After your accounts are connected you can sign in using either account.
Please enter your email to sign in.
Please enter your password to sign in.
Please enter your email and password to sign in.
There is a problem with your email/password.
A system error has occurred. Please try again later.
A password reset email has been sent to EmailID. If you don't see an email, please check your spam folder.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
Password Reset
Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code.
Registration Options
Welcome to Find a Grave
Create your free account by choosing an option below.
or
Ancestry account link
To create your account, Ancestry will share your name and email address with Find a Grave. To continue choose an option below.
or
If you already have a Find a Grave account, please sign in to link to Ancestry®.
New Member Registration
Email is mandatory
Email and Password are mandatory
This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. Resend Activation Email
Your password is not strong enough
Invalid Email
You must agree to Terms and Conditions
Account already exists
Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox
Internal Server error occurred
If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map
You must select an email preference
We have sent you an activation email
Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters.
We just emailed an activation code to
Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account.
cemeteries found in will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
Within 5 miles of your location.
Within 5 kilometers of your location.
0 cemeteries found in .
0 cemeteries found.
Add a cemetery to fulfill photo requests
You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below.
Search above to list available cemeteries.
Getting location…
Loading...
Loading...
No cemeteries found
Find a Grave Video Tutorials
Default Language
Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [email protected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. Thanks for your help!
Preferred Language
We have set your language to based on information from your browser.