William Bernard Hickie - Military Career

Military Career

Being destined for a military career he attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (1882–85). He was commissioned into his father’s regiment, the Royal Fusiliers at Gibraltar, in 1885 and served with them for thirteen years in the Mediterranean, in Egypt. and India. In 1899 he graduated as captain at the Staff College, Camberley and was selected when the Second Boer War broke out as a Special Service Officer in which capacity he acted in various positions of authority and command. He was promoted from captain of mounted infantry to battalion command, subsequently of a corps until eventually at the end of 1900 he was given command of an independent column of all arms. This he held for eighteen months. He served with distinction at the Battle of Bothaville in November 1900.