{{Short description|British Army officer}} {{about||his father, the British Army officer and military historian|Frederick William Spring}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} {{EngvarB|date=February 2020}} {{Infobox military person |honorific_prefix = Brigadier-General |name= Frederick Spring |honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CB|CMG|DSO|JP}} |image= |image_size= |alt= |caption= |nickname= |birth_date= {{birth date|df=y|1878|07|25}} |birth_place= Bombay, India |death_date= {{death date and age|df=y|1963|09|24|1878|07|25}} |death_place= Aldershot, Hampshire, England |burial_place= |allegiance= United Kingdom |branch= British Army |service_years= 1898–1935 |rank= Brigadier-General |service_number= |unit= |commands= Poona (Independent) Brigade Area ({{circa}} 1932–35)<br/>1st Battalion, Royal Lincolnshire Regiment (1923–27)<br/>33rd Infantry Brigade (1917–18)<br/>11th Battalion, Essex Regiment (1916–17) |battles= Second Boer War<br/>First World War |awards= Companion of the Order of the Bath<br/>Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George<br/>Distinguished Service Order<br/>Mentioned in Despatches (5)<br/>Croix de guerre (France) |relations= Colonel Frederick William Spring (father) |other_work= }} Brigadier-General '''Frederick Gordon Spring''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100|sep=,|CB|CMG|DSO|JP}} (25 July 1878 – 24 September 1963) was a senior British Army officer.
==Early life== Spring was born on 25 July 1878 in Bombay, India, the son of Colonel Frederick William Spring, a Royal Artillery officer.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} He was educated at Blundell's School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.<ref name="londongazette">{{London Gazette |issue=26964|date=6 May 1898 |page=2821}}</ref><ref name="lib.militaryarchive.co.uk">The VC and DSO, Volume III http://lib.militaryarchive.co.uk/library/Biographical/library/The-VC-and-DSO-Volume-III/files/assets/basic-html/page350.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230233719/http://lib.militaryarchive.co.uk/library/Biographical/library/The-VC-and-DSO-Volume-III/files/assets/basic-html/page350.html |date=30 December 2013 }}</ref>
==Military career== Spring was commissioned as a subaltern into the Lincolnshire Regiment (later the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment) as a second lieutenant on 7 May 1898,<ref name="londongazette"/> and promoted to lieutenant on 3 January 1900.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27174|page=1793|date=16 March 1900}}</ref>
He served with the regiment in South Africa during the Second Boer War, which began in October 1899, and from June 1900 he took part in operations in Transvaal. He was again seconded for service in South Africa in April 1902,<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=27428 |page=2792 |date=25 April 1902}}</ref> when he commanded a mounted infantry contingent.
The war ended just a few weeks later, and Spring left Cape Town in the SS ''Dunera'' in late September 1902, arriving at Southampton early the following month.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Army in South Africa – Troops returning Home |date=26 September 1902 |page=4 |issue=36883}}</ref>
He was back with his regiment in January 1903<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27518|date=23 January 1903|page=468}}</ref> and was adjutant of the 2nd Battalion of his regiment between 1904 and 1907, and was promoted to captain in 1905.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27871|date=5 January 1906|page=110}}</ref> He retired from the army in 1907, but was recalled to service at the outbreak of the First World War.
===First World War=== Spring initially served as an embarkation officer, but was soon posted to the staff of the 33rd (Infantry) Brigade as its signals officer.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29405|date=17 December 1915|page=12564}}</ref> He was promoted to major, dated back to April 1915,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29282|date=31 August 1915|page=8717|supp=y}}</ref> and deployed to Gallipoli with the brigade in 1915, and was involved in the successful capture of "Chocolate Hill" by the 6th (Service) Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment from Ottoman Empire forces during the Battle of Sari Bair.<ref>F. G. Spring, 'Postcript I', ''The History of the 6th (Service) Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment'' (Poacher Books, 2008), 69.</ref> However, the battalion suffered heavy losses and Spring himself was injured in the action.
Upon recovery he took command of the 11th (Service) Battalion, Essex Regiment and was granted the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel while employed in this role.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29691|date=1 August 1916|page=7640|supp=y}}</ref> The battalion at the time was engaged on the Western Front with the 6th Division.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29501|date=7 March 1916|page=2544|supp=y}}</ref> Whilst in this position Spring presided over a divisional court martial that sentenced Private Harry Farr of the 1st Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment, to death for cowardice. Spring commanded the 11th Essex Regiment during the Battle of the Somme, and at the Battle of Cambrai. He was promoted to colonel in 1918. In September 1918 he returned to the 33rd Brigade as its brigadier-general. He was Mentioned in Despatches five times over the course of the war.<ref name="lib.militaryarchive.co.uk"/> He was also awarded the Croix de guerre by the French government.
===Post-war career=== Following the end of the First World War, Spring was appointed Senior Instructor at the Senior Officers' School, Belgaum, India from January 1921 to September 1922.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=32364|date=21 June 1921 |page=4920 }}</ref> Returning to England, Spring continued to serve with the Lincolnshire Regiment, commanding the 1st Battalion between 1923 and 1927.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{London Gazette |issue=34056|date=4 June 1934 |page=3558 }}</ref> In this capacity he was in charge of the battalion during its deployment to Northern Ireland from 1923 to 1924 in support of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
Between 1927 and 1931, Spring was Assistant Quartermaster General of Southern Command in England. He was subsequently the commander of the Poona (Independent) Brigade Area, Southern Command, India until his retirement in 1935.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> From 1935 to 1939, he served as Inspector of Recruiting.<ref name="obit">"Brig.-Gen. F. G. Spring." Times [London, England] 26 September 1963: 18. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 27 December 2013.</ref> During the Second World War, he worked on the Imperial General Staff at the War Office. He was also a Justice of the Peace.
==Death== Spring died in 1963 in Aldershot, Hampshire. There is a memorial in Lincoln Cathedral to his memory.<ref>Lincoln Cathedral Roll of Honour http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Lincolnshire/LincolnCathedralIndividuals.html</ref>
==Personal life== Spring married Violet Maud Turnbull, the granddaughter of Colonel Henry Law Maydwell, in late 1919.<ref>The Times (London), 7 October 1919, page 27.</ref> In 1933 Spring's nine-year-old son, John Gordon Spring, died after an accident while being shown around the Royal Navy battleship {{HMS|Hood}} at Portsmouth. He accidentally fell 60 ft down an open hatch and died of injuries sustained the next day.<ref>"News in Brief." Times [London, England] 4 August 1933: 12. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 27 December 2013.</ref>
==Publications== *''The History of the 6th (Service) Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment 1914 – 1919'' (Written in the 1920s – first published in 2009 by Poacher Books)
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Spring, Frederick}} Category:1878 births Category:1963 deaths Category:British Army brigadier-generals Category:Royal Lincolnshire Regiment officers Category:Essex Regiment officers Frederick Category:British Army generals of World War I Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Category:British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Category:Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Category:British recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Category:People educated at Blundell's School Category:Military personnel of British India