Fitzgerald Wintour

Fitzgerald Wintour was commissioned in the 50th Foot (later the Royal West Kent Regiment) on 11 August 1880. His career followed the classic pattern of the ambitious high-flyer. He was Adjutant of 1st Battalion Royal West Kent (1884–9), passed staff college in 1891, transferred to the Norfolk Regiment (as a major) in May 1903, achieving command of the 1st Battalion on 1 September 1904 at the relatively early age of 43. He saw active service in Egypt (1882), the Sudan (1884–5; 1885–6) and South Africa (1899–1901).

When the Great War broke out he was Brigadier-General i/c Administration Scottish Command, a post he had held since October 1910. On Christmas Day 1914 he was given command of 84th Brigade, 28th Division, a Regular formation composed of battalions returning from imperial garrison duties, principally in India. 84th Brigade deployed to France in January 1915. Wintour was relieved of command on 23 February, shortly after the brigade lost a hundred yards of trench during a German raid.

The GOC 28th Division, Major-General E S Bulfin, visited Wintour’s HQ and told him bluntly that he was incapable of commanding a brigade in the field. Wintour was sent to Casualty Clearing Station No 3, where he was diagnosed as suffering from ‘neurasthenia’ and sent home. He returned to the Western Front on 30 June 1915 as DA&QMG Second Army, a post he held until 9 November.

He retired from the army on 31 March 1918. Major-General Wintour’s first wife died in 1904. He remarried in 1912 at the age of 52, fathering two children, a son and a daughter. His son, Charles Vere Wintour, became editor of the London Evening Standard (1959–76, 1978–80). His grand-daughter, Dame Anna Wintour, was editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine 1988-2025.