# 46793
BIRDWOOD, William Riddell, Field Marshal, 1st Baron Birdwood (1865-1951)
Birdwood of Anzac : autograph on card
$40.00 AUD
Bold signature in black ink on card (87 x 113 mm), ‘Birdwood of Anzac, F.M. / 28 Nov. 50’; accompanied by its original (pre-addressed) mailing envelope endorsed by Birdwood ‘F-M. W. R. Birdwood’; original collector’s typed biographical information on Birdwood to verso; fine condition.
Field Marshal William Riddell Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood (1865-1951), was the British commander of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) for most of the Great War. He was in charge of the Gallipoli landings, having been put in command of the Corps on 25 April 1915. In September he took command of the entire British Dardanelles army, and thus oversaw the evacuation from the peninsula later in the year. On Gallipoli, Birdwood was generally regarded with affection by his troops.
After touring Australia to great acclaim in 1920, Birdwood became general officer commanding the Northern Army in India later that year. He was promoted to field marshal (with the corresponding honorary rank in the Australian Military Forces) on 20 March 1925, and, having been appointed a Member of the Executive Council of the Governor-General of India in July 1925, he was made Commander-in-Chief, India, in August 1925. Following his retirement from the service in 1930, Birdwood made a bid to become Governor-General of Australia. However, although he had the backing of the King and the British government, the Australian Prime Minister James Scullin insisted on the appointment of his Australian nominee, Sir Isaac Isaacs.
He was raised to the peerage in recognition of his wartime service as Baron Birdwood, of Anzac and of Totnes in the County of Devon, on 25 January 1938. Lord Birdwood died at Hampton Court Palace, where he lived in grace-and-favour apartments, on 17 May 1951. He was buried at Twickenham Cemetery with full military honours. The Australian Government still pays for the upkeep of his grave. He is chiefly remembered as the commander of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) during the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915.
