John Denton Pinkstone French 1st earl of Ypres

John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st earl of Ypres , 1852-1925, British field marshal. After a long career in the army, during which he served in Sudan (1884-85) and in the South African War (1899-1902), he was chief of the imperial general staff (1912-14) and became a field marshal in 1913. His command of the British Expeditionary Force in France and Belgium from the outbreak of World War I (Aug., 1914) to Dec., 1915, was marked by failure to coordinate the movements of his forces and heavy casualties in the first and second battles of Ypres and the battle of Loos. On his return to England he reorganized the home defenses. He was lord lieutenant of Ireland (1918-21) and was created earl in 1922. He wrote 1914 (1919).

Bibliography: See biography by R. Holmes (1981).

French, John Denton Pinkstone, 1st Earl of Ypres (1852–1925) British field-marshal. Having distinguished himself in the Sudan and the Second BOER WAR (1899), he was appointed commander-in-chief of the BRITISH EXPEDITIONARY FORCE in France (1914). Under instructions from Lord KITCHENER he opposed the German advance through Belgium and Flanders. He and his armies were ill-equipped for the kind of TRENCH WARFARE in which they found themselves involved, and in December 1915 French resigned in favour of Sir Douglas HAIG. At the Irish EASTER RISING in 1916 French dispatched two divisions to suppress the uprising. He served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1918–21) at a time when outrages and reprisals were widespread.