Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby

Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby GCB, GCMG, GCVO was an English soldier and British Imperial Governor. He fought in the Second Boer War and also in World War I, in which he led the British Empires Egyptian Expeditionary Force during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in the conquest of Palestine capturing Beersheba, Jaffa, and Jerusalem from October to December 1917. His forces occupied the Jordan Valley during the summer 1918, then went on to capture northern Palestine and defeat Yildirim Army Groups Eighth Army at the Battle of Megiddo, forcing the Fourth and Seventh Army to retreat towards Damascus. Subsequently, the EEF Pursuit by Desert Mounted Corps captured Damascus and advanced into northern Syria. During this pursuit, he commanded T. E. Lawrence , whose campaign with Faisals Arab Sherifial Forces assisted the EEFs capture of Ottoman Empire territory and fought the Battle of Aleppo, five days before the Armistice of Mudros ended the campaign on 3

Allenby was born the son of Hynman Allenby and Catherine Anne Allenby and was educated at Haileybury College. He had no great desire to be a soldier, and tried to enter the Indian Civil Service but failed the entry exam. He sat the exam for the Royal Military College, Sandhurst in 1880, was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 6th Dragoons onMay 1882, and joined his regiment in South Africa later that year. After serving at the cavalry depot in Canterbury, he was promoted to captain onJanuary 1888 and then returned to South Africa.

Source: Wikipedia