James Gordon Legge CB CMG MA (1863 - 1947)

Born 15 Aug 1863 in Hackney, London, England, United Kingdom

Husband of Annie Frances (Ferguson) Legge — married 14 Oct 1896 in Sydney, New South Wales (Australia)

Descendants

Died 18 Sep 1947 at age 84 in Oakleigh, Victoria, Australia

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Biography

Gordon Legge CB CMG MA is Notable.

Lieutenant General Gordon Legge CB CMG MA LLB was an Australian Army senior officer who served in the both Boer War and First World War and was the Chief of the General Staff, Australia's top soldier between 1914 and 1915 and again between 1917 and 1920. He was appointed Commandant of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, from 1920 to 1922.

formative years

Gordon Legge CB CMG MA was born in Middlesex, England.

James Gordon Legge was born on 15th August 1863 in Hackney, London, England. Gordon, the name by which he went, was the eldest of eight sons of James Henry Legge, a banker, and his wife Ada Jane Way. ^[1] He was educated at Cranleigh School in Surrey, England.

Gordon Legge CB CMG MA migrated from England to New South Wales.

The family migrated to the Colony of New South Wales aboard the ship, Inchgreen, arriving on 18th December 1878 ^[2][3][4] In the new year, he continued his education at Sydney Grammar School. He graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1884, Master of Arts (MA) in 1887 and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) in 1890. ^[2]

Gordon was a school teacher and solicitor

Gordon taught at Sydney Boys High School from 1886 to 1890, at which time he stood down to practice law, being admitted to the bar in New South Wales on 6th March 1891. ^[2]

Gordon is said to have entered a relationship with a Mary Louisa Cubitt that resulted in the birth of a son:

• Ernest Harold Cubitt (1887-1976)

marriage and family

On 14th October 1896 Gordon married Annie Frances Ferguson in St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Sydney.^[5] Gordon and Annie made their home at Kuringai Avenue, Turramurra, and had three sons:

• George Ferguson Legge (1897-KIA France 1918)
• Major General Stanley Ferguson Legge CBE (1900-77)
• Eric Ferguson Legge (1904-85)

early military career

Legge was commissioned as a Lieutenant into the 3rd New South Wales Infantry Regiment in 1885 but resigned the next year. In October 1887 he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant into the 1st New South Wales Regiment. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1892. In 1894 he was commissioned as a Captain in the New South Wales permanent force.^[2]

Second Boer War

Gordon Legge CB CMG MA is a Military Veteran.
Served in the Australian Army 1899-1902
1st New South Wales Mounted Rifles

With the outbreak of the Boer War in 1899, Legge was appointed to command an infantry company, with Lieutenant (later Major General) William Holmes as one of his subalterns. The company left for South Africa in November 1899, and on arrival was incorporated in the Australian Regiment. Legge pushed for a separate identity for the New South Wales contingent, he succeeded and on 7th April 1900, Legge's company was incorporated into the 1st New South Wales Mounted Rifles. He saw action at Diamond Hill, Elands River, Vet River and Zand River. In December 1900, his company had completed its twelve-month tour and returned to Australia.^[6] Legge remained, serving as intelligence officer to Lieutenant Colonel H de B De Lisle until 1902, who is said to have described him as 'the most intrepid intelligence officer that I have ever been associated with'. By the time he left Cape Town on 8th July 1902 he was probably the longest-serving Australian in the Boer War.^[7]

Five of James' brothers also served in the war, Franklin being killed in action.

between wars

When the 1903 Defence Act was proclaimed in March 1904 Legge published a handbook on Australian military law, the Act and its regulations. That year he also published a booklet outlining rules for framing operation orders in the field. In 1907, Legge began working with Colonel (later Lieutenant General Sir) William Bridges at Army Headquarters in Melbourne. Legge was appointed Quartermaster General and a member of the Military Board in January 1909, on promotion to Lieutenant Colonel. When Field Marshal Lord Kitchener visited Australia in December 1909, Legge worked very closely with him. The Defence Scheme that became known as Kitchener's Defence Scheme was largely developed by Legge. The political importance of Legge's work guaranteed him prominence among his fellow staff officers. From March 1910 to June 1911, Legge served as Director of Operations as well as Quartermaster General. In January 1912, Legge was designated Australian Representative on the Imperial General Staff in London and appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG). He observed the British Army, and was particularly impressed with the Royal Flying Corps, and helped speed up the arrangements for the establishment of an Australian Flying Corps.^[2]

The Great War

Gordon Legge CB CMG MA is an Anzac who served in World War One.

On 1st May 1914, Legge was appointed Chief of the General Staff (CGS), with the rank of Colonel. With Bridges occupied in organising the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), Legge took over the organisation of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force for service in New Guinea. When Bridges departed for overseas, Legge took over responsibility for the training of AIF reinforcements. When Bridges was fatally wounded by a Turkish sniper in Monash Valley in May 1915, Legge was the natural choice of the Australian government to succeed him as both commander of the 1st Division and of the AIF. Prime Minister Andrew Fisher duly promoted Legge to Major General on 22nd June 1915. In July Legge moved to Egypt to assume command of the 2nd Division and see to its training. Within a month, subunits were being deployed to Gallipoli. In April 1916 the 2nd Division was deployed to the Western Front in France. Amongst his staff officers were Majors Tom Blamey and John Gellibrand, both future Australian generals. To Gellibrand he confided that 'he had nothing against British officers, but felt that they did not share the same concern for the personal welfare of the troops as Australian officers'.^[8] Legge was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal (CGM).^[9] Ordered by British generals to take Pozières Heights, but then suffering their interference that delayed the division whilst under heavy bombardment for twelve days, the mission was completed but had cost the 6,848 men, almost a third of its strength. Legge was unfairly and incorrectly blamed and informed by Birdwood that he would not receive another command. Nevertheless, Legge was appointed Companion of the Order of the (CB) in the 1917 New Year Honours and Mentioned in Despatches in January. He returned to Australia, whereupon he was appointed Inspector General, Australian Military Forces on 30th April 1917, investigating conditions at training camps and schools of instruction. He resumed the appointment of CGS on 1st October.^[10] In 1918, Legge began considering the problem of how to defend Australia against the Japanese if the Allies lost the war. In considering the makeup of the postwar forces, Legge became a strong advocate of an independent Royal Australian Air Force and a major role for air power. He also considered the post-war role for citizen forces.^[11]

post-war

On 1st June 1920 Legge was appointed commandant of the Royal Military College, Duntroon; finding the college in a crisis due to the scarcity of applicants for a military career and severe reductions in funds. In 1922, he opposed a decision to alter the commandant's direct accountability to the minister for defence and make him answerable through the Military Board. The immediate result was an announcment by the minister for defence that Legge was among officers to be retrenched for reasons of economy. He was placed on the unattached list on 1st August. He went onto the retired list on 14th January 1924, with the honorary rank of Lieutenant General, his enforced return to civil life before reaching the prescribed retiring age depriving Legge of a military pension. He was awarded the Légion d'honneur in February.^[11]

Aussie farmer

Gordon was a farmer

Through the Soldier Settlement Scheme Legge purchased a lease on a 400 acres (160 ha) farm north of the Weetangera farm in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). He called it "Cranleigh" after his school in England and his former home in Sydney, and he raised pigs and horses, and grew potatoes. Many of the local farmers thought him eccentric, as the area is best known as sheep country. By 1923 cottages for a manager and workmen were being built at Cranleigh, farm machinery including a tractor had been purchased and a concrete weir across the Ginninderra Creek was under construction. The homestead was built of concrete blocks moulded on site with sand from Ginninderra Creek. There was a central verandah courtyard surrounded by ten rooms with each room having an entrance to the courtyard. The site of "Cranleigh Farm" in Latham ACT, at the corner of Kingsford Smith Drive and Southern Cross Drive, remains an open space. The farm is commemorated by the Cranleigh School, that provides educational programs for children in the age range 3–12 with intellectual impairments, sited about 200m west of the farm site in Starke Street, Holt.^[2]

the final parade ground

Legge passed away on 18th September 1947 at Oakleigh, Victoria, at the home of his second son, and was buried at Cheltenham Memorial Park. In accordance with his wishes, no monument or headstone marks his grave. His wife had died a little more than two weeks earlier in Sydney, where she was being cared for by family.^[12] Gordon was survived by two sons, Stanley Ferguson Legge, who attained the rank of Major General, and Eric Ferguson Legge. His eldest son George Ferguson Legge had been killed in action in France as a private.

Legge made an immense contribution to Australia's military forces and defence, yet he appears to have been snubbed when divisional commanders junior to him were given knighthoods at the end of the war.

Major General Sir Brudenell White, indisputedly one of Australia's greatest soldiers, stated of Legge that: "... beyond doubt he was an outstanding character of both the Commonwealth Military Forces and the AIF. Perhaps he has never been given his full due. A very human and good trainer of troops, he ... successfully handled the 2nd Division through some difficult periods. But organisation and administration were his forte and in each of these spheres he has left his mark."^[11]

Even historian, Charles Bean, never a supporter of Legge, stated: "The country owed to him, more perhaps than to any man, its fine system of compulsory citizen training."^[11]

Gellibrand considered that "his strongly held and strongly-expressed views failed to make him 'persona non grata' with higher authorities."^[11]