William Robertson (British Army Officer) - PostWar

PostWar

Robertson became Commander-in-Chief of the British Army of the Rhine in April 1919. He was appointed GCMG in the King's Birthday Honours in June 1919 and was thanked by Parliament, granted £10,000 and created a Baronet, of Beaconsfield in the County of Buckingham on 29 December 1919.

After the War he was also awarded the Belgian War Cross, the Grand Cross of the Serbian Order of the White Eagle (with Swords) and the American Distinguished Service Medal. This was as well as being appointed to the Chinese Order of Chia-Ho (1st Class), being given the Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Italy, being appointed to the Russian Order of Alexander Nevsky and receiving the Japanese Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun.

Troop reductions meant that the Rhine Command was being downgraded to a lieutenant-general’s command, so in July 1919 Churchill offered Robertson the Irish Command, often a last posting for distinguished generals nearing retirement. Although the level of violence in Ireland in 1919 was not yet as high as it would be in 1920-1, there were concerns that Robertson lacked the subtlety for the job. In October the CIGS Henry Wilson warned Churchill that the planned introduction of Irish Home Rule that autumn would lead to unrest, and asked him to consult the Prime Minister, perhaps in the knowledge that Lloyd George disliked Robertson. Lloyd George suggested that Robertson be appointed Commander-in-Chief, India, but this job was already earmarked for Rawlinson. Lloyd George preferred Macready for the Irish job, as he had experience of peacekeeping duties in South Wales and Belfast as well as having served as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in London. Churchill again told the Prime Minister in February 1920 that he wanted Robertson, then protested that he had been overruled. He promoted Robertson to field marshal “as a consolation prize” on 29 March 1920, making him the first man to rise in the British army from the lowest rank (private) to the highest. Wilson thought the promotion “very disgusting”.

On returning to the UK Robertson received no official welcome at Victoria Station and later recorded that “having secured a broken-down taxi I drove to my residence in Ecclestone Square; and thereupon joined the long list of unemployed officers on half-pay”. He was colonel of the 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys) from 9 March 1916 and colonel of the 3rd / 6th Dragoon Guards from 31 December 1925. He became Colonel of the Royal Horse Guards in 1928. In retirement he became chairman of the Brewers' Trustees and a director of British Dyestuffs Corporation as well as President of the British Legion. He was advanced to GCVO in 1931.

Robertson's interests were fishing, shooting and golf. He died from a thrombosis on 12 February 1933, aged 73. Mount Robertson in the Canadian Rockies and Sir William Robertson High School in his birth village, Welbourn, were named after him.