General Sir Alexander John Godley, GCB, KCMG (4 February 1867 – 6 March 1957) was a senior British Army officer.

Regarded as a cold and aloof commander, his popularity was further dented in October 1917 when he insisted on continuing an offensive in the Ypres salient when weather and ground conditions were not favourable.

[12] From 1890, Godley served in a number of posts around Ireland, including the Royal Dublin Fusiliers recruiting depot at Naas, in County Kildare.

In March 1896, by which time he had reached the rank of captain, he ended nearly ten years of service with the Dublin Fusiliers and returned to Aldershot as adjutant of the Mounted Infantry School there.

[15] Later that year he was selected for service in Mashonaland, to help suppress a rebellion in the British South Africa Company's territories in Rhodesia.

[18] In 1898 Godley attended the Staff College at Camberley, which brought him into contact with George Francis Robert Henderson, "the prominent military theorist of his time".

[21] Godley then served on the staff of the 2nd Division at Aldershot until March 1910 when he relinquished the position to Colonel Beauvoir De Lisle and was placed on half-pay.

[25] The quality of small arms and other personal equipment provided to the country's military personnel were improved and orders placed for new artillery pieces and machine-guns.

[27] From 1912, Godley began putting plans in place for the rapid deployment of a New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) in the event of war in Europe.

Godley would retain command of the NZEF for the duration of the war, making regular reports to James Allen, the New Zealand Minister of Defence.

Despite his strict approach to training and discipline, he was a relatively enlightened commander for his time; he discreetly established drinking canteens and venereal disease treatment centres for his men.

[10] Prior to the start of the Gallipoli campaign, Godley was made commander of the New Zealand and Australian Division, a composite formation of infantry brigades of the NZEF and the AIF.

[33] Although Bridges agreed with Godley, the commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, Sir Ian Hamilton, ordered them to hold fast.

[10] Of tall stature, he made constant tours of the front line amidst jokes that the communication trenches needed to be dug deeply to allow for his height.

On the morning of 8 August, the Wellington Infantry Battalion was in tenuous possession of Chunuk Bair but required support to consolidate its position.

[41] Following the withdrawal, he was made Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath for his services at Gallipoli,[42] on the recommendation of General Sir Charles Monro, who had replaced Hamilton as Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force.

Writing to Allen after the battle, Godley regarded the capture of Messines as "... the greatest success of the war so far, all of it achieved with much lighter casualties than those incurred on the Somme.

"[54] Despite this success, in August, Godley's poor standing amongst the NZEF was publicly raised by a member of the New Zealand Parliament who had visited the front earlier in the year.

Following the success of his corps at the Battle of Broodseinde on 4 October 1917, Godley believed the morale of the Germans was low and pushed for further attacks to secure the Passchendaele Ridge.

[58] In the Battle of Poelcapelle on 9 October by the 49th and 66th Divisions, both British formations attached to II ANZAC Corps, were hampered by the poor weather which showed no signs of abating and achieved very limited gains.

[60] By now the ground was a sea of mud and a lack of preparation on the part of Godley's corps headquarters hampered the preliminary movements of the attacking divisions and supporting artillery.

Godley's plans for the attack were overly ambitious and beyond the scale of previous operations that had been mounted earlier in the month in better weather and ground conditions and with more time to prepare.

[62] Russell, commander of the New Zealand Division, considered the planning and preparation by Godley and his staff at II ANZAC Corps for the battle to be inadequate.

After being involved in the defence of the Allied positions during the German spring offensive of late March, it then participated, under French command, in the Second Battle of the Marne in July.

[16] By the close of the war, Godley, who in June 1918 had had his rank of lieutenant general made substantive,[68] had been mentioned in dispatches ten times.

[74] After the war, Godley became commander of IV Corps which was based in Germany as an occupation army, but he remained responsible for administration of the NZEF until it was disestablished in November 1919.

Godley was considered the ablest of the immediate post war governors although he made a misjudgement in interfering in the politics of the Royal Calpe Hunt.

The King had to intercede after Godley removed the master of the hunt creating large divisions that were not repaired until his successor took charge.

[2] When made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in January 1928,[77] he included in his coat of arms an image of a New Zealand infantryman.

[84] After a funeral service at St Mary's Church, Lambourn Woodlands, Berkshire, was held on 14 March 1957,[85] his remains were cremated and interred in his wife's grave.