Gerald Boyd (British Army officer)

Educated at St Paul's School,[1] Boyd enlisted into the Devonshire Regiment in 1895. He fought in the Second Boer War 1899-1901, and took part in the Relief of Ladysmith, including the actions at Colenso; and in the operations in Orange River Colony, including the action at Wittebergen. During the war, he was commissioned into the 2nd battalion East Yorkshire Regiment in May 1900,[2] and promoted to lieutenant in that regiment on 26 April 1902.[3] He was mentioned in despatches three times (including 25 April 1902[4]), received the Queen's South Africa Medal, and was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his war service.[5] The battalion stayed in South Africa throughout the war, and he returned home on the SS Orotava in December 1902, when they were stationed at Aldershot.[6] He went on to be Brigade Major for 11th Infantry Brigade in 1912.[2]

He served in World War I with 11th Infantry Brigade as part of the British Expeditionary Force.[2] He became a General Staff Officer with 1st Division and with 6th Division before becoming a Brigadier-General on the General Staff of 5th Army Corps in France in 1916.[2] He was made Commander 170th Infantry Brigade in France in July 1918 and General Officer Commanding 46th (North Midland) Division in September 1918.[2] He led the 46th Division when it successfully stormed the Hindenburg Line at Bellenglise during the Battle of St Quentin Canal.[1]

After the War he was made a Brigadier General on the General Staff at General Headquarters of British Army on the Rhine and then General Officer Commanding Dublin District in Ireland in 1920.[2] He was appointed Commandant of the Staff College, Quetta, in 1923 and Military Secretary in 1927.[2] He died of cerebral spinal fever in 1930.[1]

In 1913 he married Grace Sophia Burdett and they went on to have two sons.[1]

• Priestley, R. E. (1919). Breaking the Hindenburg Line. London: T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd.