[9] He attended the Staff College, Camberley from 1893 to 1895, which brought him into contact with Julian Byng, Aylmer Haldane, Thomas Snow, Hubert Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton-Gordon, Launcelot Kiggell, and Henry Wilson, all of whom would rise to high rank in the First World War.

[13] Following the end of hostilities in June 1902, he returned to the United Kingdom together with Lord Kitchener on board the SS Orotava,[14] which arrived in Southampton on 12 July.

[15] In a despatch dated 23 June 1902, Lord Kitchener wrote of Rawlinson that he "possesses the qualities of Staff Officer and Column Commander in the field.

"[16] For his service in the war, Rawlinson was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the April 1901 South Africa Honours list (the award was dated to 29 November 1900[17]), and he received the actual decoration after his return home, from Edward VII at Buckingham Palace on 24 October 1902.

Major Godwin-Austen, historian of the college, wrote: "Blessed with an extremely attractive personality, a handsome appearance, high social standing, and more than an average share of this world's goods, he was one to inspire his students unconsciously to follow in his footsteps.

"[21][22] Promoted to temporary brigadier general on 1 March 1907,[23] he was made commander of the 2nd Infantry Brigade in place of Edwin Alderson at Aldershot that year.

[25][6] In manoeuvres in June 1912, he showed an appreciation of the use of artillery, the Times's correspondent noting approvingly: An operation of altogether unusual character took place yesterday on Salisbury Plain when Major-General Sir Henry Rawlinson's 3rd Division practised combined field firing on a scale, which, so far as the writer can recall, has never been attempted before.

[26]The historians Robin Prior and Trevor Wilson praise Rawlinson's foresight in considering combining infantry with the fire-power of machine-guns and artillery.

[30] It was soon obvious that the combined British, Belgian, and French forces were too weak to hold the city, and Kitchener decided on an evacuation two days later.

[32] IV Corps marched into Ypres on the night of 13–14 October, where the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), advancing northwards, was preparing to meet the German Army.

[33] Located at the centre of the British line, IV Corps met the main thrust of the German attacks between 18 and 27 October and suffered heavy casualties.

[34] On 28 October, IV Corps was put under the temporary command of Douglas Haig while Rawlinson went to England to oversee the preparation of 8th Division.

[35] Rawlinson wrote to the Conservative politician Lord Derby (24 December 1914) forecasting that the Allies would win a war of attrition but it was unclear whether this would take one, two or three years.

That the bosh [sic] will break and that a debacle will supervene I do not believe..." He was not satisfied that the wire was well cut and enemy trenches sufficiently "knocked about".

The researches of the historians Robin Prior and Trevor Wilson have shown that the majority of battalions were out in No Man's Land before whistles blew.

Rawlinson mainly failed to intervene and coordinate attacks until late August and early September, when he massed guns and men, enabling brigades of the 16th (Irish) Division to capture Guillemont village.

[61] Rawlinson had learned from his experiences on the Somme: The immeasurable superiority of the planning for 8 August 1918 over that for 1 July 1916 testified to the distance the BEF had travelled in the interim.

[65] In September, again commanding a mixed force of British, Australian and American divisions, Rawlinson participated in the breaking of the Hindenburg Line, a major part of the Hundred Days Offensive.

Allied success was most striking in the centre where the 46th (North Midland) Division crossed the St Quentin Canal and stormed trenches beyond, advancing up to 3 mi (4.8 km) and taking over 5,300 prisoners.

[68] In 1919, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Rawlinson of Trent in the County of Dorset,[69] and appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath.

[70] Rawlinson was again called on to organise an evacuation, this time of the Allied forces that had been sent to Russia to intervene in the Russian Civil War.

Winston Churchill as Secretary of State for War was instrumental in securing his appointment, over-riding a tradition that the post alternated between officers from the British and Indian Armies.

He told Lloyd George that the post should go to the best qualified officer and that his military advisors "entirely supported my view that the best appointment we could make would be that of General Lord Rawlinson".

Brigadier Reginald Dyer's ordering his men to shoot at a crowd at Amritsar, killing 387 unarmed Indians, left a deep legacy of bitterness.

Under the system of Dyarchy, Indians, generally opposed to military expenditure, took a share in government and Rawlinson would have to justify army budgets.

[75]John Newsinger argues that "there is no doubt that the great majority of the British in India, soldiers, officials, civilians, agreed with Rawlinson on this.

[76] Nonetheless, with Gandhi temporarily behind bars and increasing economic stability as the 1920s advanced, Rawlinson had the scope to reduce the Army's strength, modernise its equipment and work closely with Viceroys Chelmsford and Reading to try to make dyarchy a success.

In Waziristan, the British and Indian Field Force backed by aircraft put an end to the fighting, built roads and established a brigade base at Razmak.

The Prince of Wales' Royal Indian Military College was founded at Dehra Dun in 1922, run on English public school lines, to encourage potential officer candidates.

"[85] He married Meredith Sophia Francis Kennard (1861–1931) at St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge, London on 5 November 1890, the marriage producing no children.