Richard Hutton Davies

Richard Hutton Davies
Davies in uniform, 1899
Born	(1861-08-14)14 August 1861 London, England
Died	9 May 1918(1918-05-09) (aged 56) London, England
Allegiance	New Zealand United Kingdom
Service/branch	New Zealand Military Forces British Army
Years of service	1893–1918
Rank	Major General
Commands held	Hawera Mounted Rifle Volunteers Third New Zealand Contingent Fourth New Zealand Contingent Eighth New Zealand Contingent 6th Brigade 20th (Light) Division
Battles/wars	Second Boer War First World War
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath Mentioned in Despatches (3)

Major General Richard Hutton Davies, CB (14 August 1861 – 9 May 1918) was an officer of the New Zealand Military Forces during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the first New Zealander to command an independent force overseas and one of the most senior New Zealand officers during the First World War.

Born in London, he emigrated to New Zealand after leaving school, where he worked as a surveyor. He joined a volunteer militia unit in 1893, and went to South Africa as an officer with the first New Zealand contingent sent to the Boer War in 1899. He later commanded the third, fourth and eighth contingents, becoming the first New Zealand officer to command an independent unit on active service overseas. Following his return to New Zealand, he became inspector-general of the New Zealand Military Forces, and in 1909 was attached to a British Army brigade to gain staff experience.

This led to him being offered command of 6th Brigade, a regular infantry brigade of British troops, in 1910; he was the first colonial officer to hold such a position. In the summer of 1914 the brigade was mobilised with the British Expeditionary Force, and he commanded it at the Battle of Mons and the First Battle of the Aisne before being invalided back to England due to exhaustion. He was given command of the newly formed 20th (Light) Division, which he took to France in 1915, but was relieved of command early in 1916. After a period in command of a reserve centre in Staffordshire, he was sent to hospital suffering from both mental and physical ill health, and committed suicide in May 1918.