Henry Leach (British Army officer)

Brigadier-General Sir Henry Edmund Burleigh Leach CB CMG CVO
Born	18 July 1780
Died	16 August 1936
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	Brigadier-General
Battles/wars	Second Boer War First World War

Brigadier-General Henry Edmund Burleigh Leach CB CMG CVO (18 July 1870–16 August 1936) was a British Army officer.

Early life and career

The son of Major-General Sir Edmund Leach of Corston House, Pembrokeshire, he was educated at Uppingham School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, where he won the Sword of Honour. In 1887 he was commissioned into the Northumberland Fusiliers.

He served with distinction in the Second Boer War and was promoted Captain in 1900 and Major in 1904. He served as Military Secretary to the Governor of Gibraltar from 1905 to 1910. In 1908 he transferred to the South Wales Borderers and in 1912 he took command of the 2nd Battalion, being promoted Lieutenant-Colonel the following year.

First World War

He took the battalion to France on 6 August 1914 following the outbreak of the First World War. On 14 October 1914 he was badly wounded at the Battle of Gheluvelt and spent the rest of the war at the Adjutant-General's Department at the War Office in London. He was appointed an Assistant Adjutant-General in 1916 and Deputy Director of Personal Services, with the rank of Brigadier-General, in 1917. He retired in 1920.

Leach was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1915, Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1919, and Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in the 1920 New Year Honours for his organisation of the 1919 Peace March through London.

References

• Obituary, The Times, 17 August 1936
• Who Was Who