Who was Lord Roberts?

Born Frederick Sleigh Roberts in 1832, Field Marshal Lord Roberts commanded the British forces in Afghanistan and India from 1881 to 1904, eventually becoming Commander-in-Chief of the British Army.

"His life was jewelled and upheld by courage, faith and honour. A well-loved commander, a shrewd tactician, yet careful of his men's lives and solicitous of their welfare. Nothing endears a leader to his men more than sparing them needless hardship, and for this reason his men would follow 'Bobs' through all necessary perils, partly for their belief in him, and partly to see that no harm befell him.

Characteristically, Lord Roberts died while visiting his beloved soldiers on the Western Front in 1914, and thus passed into history a man of tact and understanding, dignity and firmness of purpose, courage and honour."


[Edited excerpt from W. H. Hannah's "Bobs, Kipling's General. The Life of Field Marshal Earl Roberts of Kandahar, VC, 1972."]