Review of 'Monty’s Mentor' by Terry Dean (May 2017)

James Sandilands, in whose brigade Captain Bernard Montgomery was to learn the importance of skilled staff work, was born in 1874. He was commissioned into the Manchester Regiment in 1895 but transferred to the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders in 1897. His first foreign service was with the garrison in Gibraltar.

The Cameron Highlanders were part of the brigade sent out to Egypt in 1898 as part of the English response to the Mahdist War (also known as the Egyptian Campaign). In April the Cameron Highlanders fought in the Battle of Atbara, a riverside battle in which 14,000 allied troops faced 15,000 rebels in their advance on Omdurman. This would be the first occasion Sandilands would see close hand fighting (Captain Douglas Haig was also present at this battle as one of Kitchener’s aides). In September of the same year, Sandilands fought at the Battle of Omdurman (8,000 English regulars, and 17,000 Egyptians faced 52,000 rebels) where his battalion experienced continuous Dervish attacks before victory. The 21st Lancers, with Winston Churchill, made several vital charges during this part of the battle.

Sandilands was one of the English and Egyptian force which investigated a French force during the Fashoda Incident when an eastward push from the Atlantic coast reached the Nile Valley in south Sudan. This problem was solved diplomatically in Europe after the two commanders met on the Nile.
From Omdurman to the Boer War, Sandilands was involved only in garrison duties. His battalion was in East London for the outbreak of the Second Boer War in 1900 and he saw action again at Nooitgedacht in December 1900. Here a brigade under Major-General Clements was ambushed by columns of Boer irregulars. Having lost the initiative, Cements was able to fight his way out but lost half his brigade in casualties. Sandilands was wounded three times during the fighting and owed his life to Sergeant Farmer who carried him to safety while under fire. Farmer was awarded the Victoria Cross for this action. Sandlilands returned to England on the  hospital ship, Simla and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his bravery.

1909 saw a change in direction when Sandilands attended the Staff College and was sent out to France in November 1914 stationed initially at Borre outside Hazebrouck where he served as Brigade Major. On promotion to Lt-Colonel, he was appointed commander of the 7th Battalion Cameron Highlanders in 44 Brigade and saw action at the Battle of Loos in September 1915. His objectives initially were Hill 70 and the Cité St Laurent. But when Cité St Auguste was added to his list of objectives, Sandlilands ordered his men to dig in and wait. Supported by his brigade commander he pulled his men back to the reverse slope.

In 1916 he was promoted to Brigadier-General, he became commander of 104 brigade in 35th (Bantam) Division. When Kitchener set about recruiting the volunteers for the expanding British Army, the minimum height requirement was 5’3”.   However, with the decline in enlistments in the late autumn of 1914, the height restriction was lowered to 5’ and the Bantam formations came into being.  The first Bantams were miners but by 1916 the quality and physical standards of the new recruits were being called into question.

Sandilands fitted into the routine for a Brigade commander very well, he rose at 6.15am and would tour the trenches where his men were stationed between breakfast and lunch. It was only in the afternoons he settled down to staff work. The brigade went into the line in mid July in the Guillemont sector but after a successful few days they suffered a major reverse when men pulled back from an attack after an inadequate artillery barrage. In late August, after inspecting recent drafts, the Divisional Commander Major-General Pinney instructed his medical officers to weed out unfit or sub-standard men. In September 1916, Pinney was transferred to the 33rd Division, exchanging commands with Major-General Herman Landon.   Under the latter the ‘combing-out’ process would be accelerated, especially after the events of 26 November, when a raid was preceded by a German attack on the Durhams and two other battalions, in the wake of a heavy trench mortar bombardment.  Three of the NCOs were court martialled for cowardice and quitting their post in the face of the enemy and were executed.

It was at this stage that Captain B Montgomery, Brigade Major of 104 Brigade is recorded as saying that Sandilands was the best general that he, Montgomery, had ever served under. In July 1917 Landon was replaced by Major-General Franks and the division went into the line in October for the Battle of Poelcapelle. 35 Division did not have a successful time here, whereas 35 Division took most of its targets, the division on their right failed to advance leaving 35 Division’s flank unprotected. 104 brigade had to pull back in the place of severe German counter-attacks.

Sandilands was on leave when the German Spring Offensive began in March 1918, and he had some difficulty finding his brigade due to the withdrawal. It was during his search that Sandilands encountered Gough in a rapidly organized group of staff officers and spoke his mind about the organization of the withdrawal. Having found his brigade holding the line, 35 Division came under question about orders for a withdrawal. Franks was away from his HQ when the order countermanding the withdrawal came through, an error which saw Franks sacked and replaced by Major-General Marindin.

The 35th Division redeemed its fighting reputation in September 1918 during the Flanders Offensive when Plumer’s Second Army advanced to the Scheldt in a number of stages pushing the German Army back day by day.

After the Armistice, Sandilands was instrumental in putting down a mutiny in Calais, sending soldiers in to quell the mutinous troops with fixed bayonets. In 1920 he was sent to command the Seaforth-Camerons and in 1928 he finally reached the rank of Major-General when he was appointed to command the British Forces in China. He retired from the army in 1928 to live in Camberley. He never married but was a favourite uncle to his nephews and nieces. He died in 1959 at the age of 85.

Report by Peter Palmer