Sir Fenton John Aylmer, 13th Baronet was an Anglo-Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross. He was in command of the first failed efforts to break the siege of Kut in 1916. From a military background, Aylmer was commissioned into the Indian Army, and immediately involved in fierce fighting on the north-west frontier. In a singularly heroic action, still in his twenties, he helped rescue Townshend's garrison at Chitral, spearheading the relief column. For his valorous conduct he was awarded the Victoria Cross, and rapid promotion through the officer class.
Early career
Born the son of Captain Fenton John Aylmer and Isabella Eleanor Darling. Aylmer attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, as a Gentleman Cadet and was promoted Lieutenant on 27 July 1880. He took part in the Burma expedition between 1886 and 1887.
The Victoria Cross
Fenton was 29 years old, and a captain in the Corps of Royal Engineers, British Army and Bengal Sappers & Miners, during the Hunza–Nagar Campaign, India when he won the Victoria Cross in 1891 for the following deed: He was promoted Major on 18 October 1893 in recognition of his services during the Hunza-Nagar Expedition, and was part of the Chitral Expedition in 1895. Further service with the Royal Engineers saw him promoted a brevetLieutenant-colonel. In July 1901 he was appointed Assistant Quartermaster general in India, and promoted to the substantive rank of colonel. Ten years later, in March 1912, having been promoted to major-general, he became Adjutant-General, India. In 1913 he married Lady Risley, the widow of Sir Herbert Risley, head of the Indian Civil Service. Born Elsie Julie Oppermann, daughter of Friedrich Oppermann, she was considered a great beauty and had, for many years prior to her marriage to him, had an affair with Aylmer—an affair that was well known within Indian society and apparently tolerated by Sir Herbert. Lady Aylmer died on 18 July 1934.
World War I
Having been promoted to lieutenant general, Aylmer was put in charge of the first effort to end the siege of Kut. General Aylmer was in command of the Tigris Corps, consisting ofthe 7th Division, the 12th Indian Division, and a number of other smaller military units. All told he had more than 20,000 men. They left Basra in late December 1915 and arrived at Sheikh Sa'ad on 3 January 1916. While the 12th Indian Division made a diversionary move near Nasiriyeh, the 7th staged a direct assault on the Ottoman positions on 6 January. After two days of fighting, the Ottoman army withdrew. The British sustained approximately 4,000 casualties - much more than the medical units could cope with. The Ottoman troops, under the generalship of Baron von der Goltz only withdrew some six miles up river and occupied another defensive position near the edge of the Suwaikiya Marshes. A British assault on this position on 13 January was partially successful, the position was carried but again with significant losses . By now, a third division had been added to Aylmer's Tigris Corps, the 3rd Division. This new division, along with the weakened 7th Division, attacked Ottoman defensive works at Hanna on 21 January. This assault was a complete failure. The Ottoman troops held their trench lines while some 2,700 British soldiers were killed or wounded. General Aylmer was reinforced with another division, the 13th Division. The next month was spent resting the troops and probing the Ottoman defensive positions. With time running out on Major-General Townshend's garrison in Kut, Aylmer finally launched a two pronged attack on the Ottoman positions, one attack at the Sinn Abtar Redoubt, the other attack at the Dujaila Redoubt. The attacks were launched on 7 March 1916. Both attacks failed due to lack of initiative and an inability to coordinate the timing of the assaults: they ended up being sequential, not simultaneous as was intended. The British lost some 4,000 casualties. Fenton Aylmer was replaced by the former commander of the 12th Indian division, Major-General George Gorringe. He did not command in battle again, retiring from the British Army in 1919. However, from 1922 till his death he was the Commandant of the Royal Engineers. Following his death in 1935 he was cremated at the Golders Green Crematorium where his ashes remain. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Royal Engineers Museum in Chatham, Kent, England.
