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General Sir David Graham Muschet "Soarer" Campbell GCB (28 January 1869 – 12 March 1936) was a cavalry officer of the British Army, amateur sportsman, and later Governor of Malta.

He first saw action in the Boer War. By the outbreak of the First World War he was in command of 9th Queen's Royal Lancers. He led them in two cavalry charges in the first months of the war; the second of these saw him receive multiple wounds, one of them from a lance, making him one of the last British casualties of that weapon. In November 1914 he was promoted to command 6th Cavalry Brigade, then in May 1916 came further promotion to command 21st Division. He retained that command for the rest of the war.

Post-war, he was knighted in 1919, and went on to hold further command and adminstrative positions in the army. He was General Officer Commanding (GOC) Baluchistan, 1920–24; Military Secretary, 1926–27; and GOC Aldershot 1927–31, when he argued for the increased mechanisation of the army. He was then appointed Governor of Malta, and died shortly after resigning that office in 1936.

During the early years of his military career Campbell was also a succesful amateur National Hunt jockey, winning a number of major races; foremost amongst these was the Grand National of 1896, on The Soarer, which gave him his nickname in subsequent years. He continued riding in military meets until the end of his army service. He was also a keen cricketer and polo player.

Early life and career

Campbell was born on 28 January 1869, the son of Major H. Wooton Campbell, Cameron Highlanders. He was educated at Clifton College where he was a noted sportsman, in particular playing cricket for the First XI. He then proceeded to Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, also representing them at cricket, before he was gazetted a second lieutenant in the 9th Lancers on 15 March 1889. Joining the cavalry was an expensive business, a junior officer's pay was just £95 a year, but the expenses of regimental living—such as mess bills—meant that a private income of at least £500 a year was required, in addition to a similar amount when first commissioned to buy horses, uniform and other equipment. At the time the regiment was based in Manchester, with a detachment at Seaforth Barracks, Liverpool. In April 1890 there was a major reorganisation of British Army cavalry regiments, with the establishment being increased from 488 Other Ranks and 300 horses to 628 OR and 350 horses, followed in August by a further increase to 706 OR and 424 horses. August also saw the regiment move to Ireland, initially to the Curragh, and then Dundalk; due to the reorganisation, the regiment was now seriously understrength, so a recruitment campaign was started. Campbell was promoted lieutenant on 9 December 1890. Cavalry regiments, in addition to their increase in size, also had their structure reorganised, with the main sub-unit becoming the squadron rather than the troop, each squadron being formed by the merger of two troops. The remainder of their time in Ireland was split between the Curragh and Newbridge, in addition to the restructuring, the regiment was issued with new-style equipment in August 1893.

The regiment's tour in Ireland lasted until August 1894 when it was posted to Aldershot, the regimental history describes the period as: "one of the most peaceful and undisturbed in that country before or since". Over this time, Campbell had begun to make a name for himself as an amateur jockey, and on 9 March 1894 at the Grand Military Meeting at Sandown Park he won the Maiden Steeplechase on The Soarer, a horse he had acquired on the toss of a coin. Later in the year, on 27 November he won the Middlesex Steeplechase and 28 November he won the Uxbridge Handicap Steeplechase Plate, both at Kempton Park, followed by third in the Handicap Steeplechase back at Sandown Park on 7 December 1894, and back at Kempton Park, another win in the Hampton Steeplechase Handicap on Boxing Day; all these races were also on Soarer. 1895 began rather less successfully, with a fourth on Soarer in the Grand Military Gold Cup at Sandown Park on 8 March, and the next day he failed to finish in the Grand Military Handicap Steeplechase, riding Seaside, which belonged to a fellow 9th Lancers officer. Then on 30 March, at the Liverpool Spring Meeting at Aintree, he won the Champion Steeplechase, again on Soarer. A single day in 1895 also saw him win both the Irish National Hunt Cup (on Dakota) and the Irish Grand Military (on Balbrigan).

Grand National success

1896 was his most succesful year in sport. On 3 March he also represented 9th Lancers at Racquets in the Grand Military Championship Challenge Cup. On 7 March he was fourth in the Grand Military Handicap Steeplechase, according to a contemporary report in The Times, this time riding Nelly Gray, a horse belonging to an officer from the 16th Lancers. However, some later sources, such as his obituary in The Times, state that he won the Grand Military that year, probably based on his own entry in Who's Who. Though he had actually sold Soarer to Hall Walker a few weeks earlier, that was still the horse he rode to his greatest victory, in the Grand National at Aintree on 27 March. The Times the following day described how he "drew to the front two fences from home and won by a length and half". It was at this point that "Soarer" became his own nickname. He also repeated his victory in the Irish National Hunt Cup (this time on Lord Arravale); and in polo, 1896 saw him on the winning side in both the Subalterns' and the Inter-Regimental tournaments, a record still unmatched at his death. In 1897, Campbell tried to repeat his Grand National triumph, once more on Soarer, but he fell on the second lap of the course at the fence after Becher's Brook, breaking his collar bone. He is also reported to have won the Grand Military in 1897 (on Parapluie).

9th Lancers had actually been posted to South Africa in August 1896, arriving at Durban in September, before travelling on to Pietermaritzburg and later, the then little known town of Ladysmith. A regimental depot had been established at Canterbury, comprising two officers and 106 OR; it's not clear if Campbell was one of these officers, or if he availed himself of what the regimental history calls the "large allowance of annual leave" in order to further his sporting career. The regiment returned to Durban in March 1898 to embark for India, they landed at Bombay (now Mumbai), and travelled from there to a base at Muttra, arriving on 10 October 1898; the remainder of the year was spent in exercises around Delhi and Aligarh. Campbell was promoted captain on 3 May 1899.

Boer War

Campbell married Janet Mary Aikman, daughter of Sir Robert Aikman in Kensington in the quarter ending June 1899, and was still on leave until his recall as the regiment was being mobilised for the Boer War.

References

• "Campbell, Sir David Graham Muschet (1869-1936), General". Survey of the Papers of Senior UK Defence Personnel, 1900-1975. Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
• "Milestones of Scouting in Malta". The Scout Association of Malta. 20 December 2005. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
• "Malta—Crisis reached—Governor dismisses ministry—Antagonism to British policy". The Canberra Times. Online version, National Library of Australia Newspaper Archives. 4 November 1933. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
• Sheppard, (Major) Eric William OBE MC (1939). The Ninth Queen's Own Royal Lancers 1715–1936. Aldershot: Gale & Pollen, Ltd.
• Gardner, Nikolas (1999). "Command and Control in the "Great Retreat" of 1914: The Disintegration of the British Cavalry Division". The Journal of Military History. 63 (1). Society for Military History: pp. 29–54. ISSN 0899-3718. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Badsey, Stephen (2008). Doctrine and Reform in the British Cavalry 1880-1918. Birmingham Studies in First World War History. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 9780754664673.

External links

• Papers of Sir Harry Charles Luke, Lieutenant-Governor of Malta, Catalogue of the Bodleian Library.
• Major-General Sir David Campbell.
• CO 323/1144/2, Colonies, General: Original Correspondence, Governors: appointment of General Sir David Campbell as governor of Malta, Catalogue description, The National Archives.
• CO 967/85, Private Office Papers, Appointment of General Sir David Campbell as Governor in succession to Sir John Du Cane, Catalogue description, The National Archives.
• CO 967/86, Private Office Papers, Appointment of General Sir Charles Bonham-Carter as Governor in succession to General Sir David Campbell, Catalogue description, The National Archives.