190 Brigade commander at the Battle of the Ancre. He took over command of 190 Brigade on 29 October 1916, due to Brig General Sackville West being wounded. And moved on with promotion on 8 December 1916 to command 8th Division.
William Charles Giffard Heneker. Born in Sherbrooke, Quebec in August 1867, he received his early education at Bishop’s College in Lennoxville before entering the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) in September 1884 as Gentleman Cadet #168. Graduating in 1888, he was “poached” by the War Office in London and offered an Imperial commission in the Connaught Rangers.
Heneker accepted this offer and served as an infantry captain in Western Africa. Between 1897 and 1906, Heneker saw action in a dozen separate small campaigns, ranging from peacetime military engagement to major combat operations, earning him the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his efforts.
He wrote in 1907 a 196-page book titled, Bush Warfare,a detailed study of small wars. Almost completely forgotten to both British and Canadian military historians today, this book served as one of the trilogy of small war bibles for the British Army until well after the First World War.
He was one of the King's Aide-de-Camps from October 1907 to June 1917. He served in World War I as Temporary Brigadier General commanding the 54th Infantry Brigade, British Expeditionary Force, 13 March to 14 December 1915; was severely wounded; was promoted Colonel 10 April 1916; commanded the 190th Infantry Brigade, Royal Naval Division, France, 29 October to 8 December 1916; became Major General (substantive, 3 June 1917), commanding the 8th British Division 9 December 1916 (CB, 1916).