George Macdonogh

Sir George Mark Watson Macdonogh (4 March 1865 – 10 July 1942) was a British Army general officer.

After early service in the Royal Engineers he became a staff officer prior to the outbreak of the First World War.

He was born on 4 March 1865, son of George Valentine MacDonogh, Deputy Inspector of the Royal Naval Hospital, Greenwich.

[2] MacDonogh, who was fluent in several Scandinavian languages, married Aline Borgstrom of Helsingfors (now Helsinki) on 8 November 1898.

Henry Wilson, director of military operations, distrusted him as a convert from Methodism to Roman Catholicism.

[2] On Sir William Robertson's promotion from Chief of Staff BEF to CIGS, Macdonogh was brought back to London.

On 3 January 1916 he was promoted to Director of Military Intelligence at the War Office, with the permanent rank of major-general.

He presented figures to the War Cabinet in October 1917, pouring cold water on Haig's predictions that German manpower would be exhausted by the end of the year.

He was considered for the position of British liaison officer with the White Russian leader Admiral Kolchak, but not appointed.

He held numerous directorships in business, banking and manufacturing, and was President of the Federation of British Industries in 1933–4.