General Sir Frederick Ivor Maxse, KCB CVO DSO DL (22 December 1862 – 28 January 1958) was a senior British Army officer who fought during the First World War, best known for his innovative and effective training methods.

[15] Maxse then served in the Second Boer War (1899-1901), in the rank of lieutenant colonel, as a staff officer in the transport department in South Africa.

He achieved this in part by hiding the division in no man's land before the battle was joined and having them closely follow the creeping barrage towards the German line.

On receiving these messages at around noon, Maxse ordered XVIII Corps to withdraw immediately, without cover of artillery fire, and they fell back behind the Somme altogether that evening.

[28] By 24 March reinforcements – Robillot's II French Cavalry Corps (whose formations were in fact mainly infantry) — were beginning to take their place in Maxse's line.

[29] Fifth Army planned a counterattack by four British brigades and 22nd French Division against a bridgehead which the Germans had made over the Somme at Pargny (threatening a breach between Watts' and Maxse's Corps).

[30] The planned counterattack did not take place as General Robillot refused to cooperate, despite a personal visit from Maxse on the morning of 25 March.

Amongst other reforms, in September he increased the size of platoons from 3 sections back to 4 (2 of them equipped with Lewis guns), reversing a decision made in June.

[34] At the end of the war Maxse was promoted to the permanent rank of lieutenant-general in January 1919[35] and became GOC IX Corps, serving as part of the British Army of the Rhine, in Germany.

[42] During the negotiations for an armistice with Germany, Maxse claimed in a letter that: The Hun is only wishful for peace in order to recover military power and be ready to launch a more successful attack at some opportune moment in the dim future.

He had but one objective and said so – world power...To prevent it we must crush and humiliate his Army which means his motive...let no sentimental gush be expended on the dirty Hun.

[47][48] In his memoirs, Basil Liddell Hart described Maxse as: ...short and dark, with a sallow complexion, small deep-set eyes, and a long drooping moustache, which gave him the look of a Tartar chief—all the more because the descriptive term 'a Tartar' so aptly fitted his manner in dealing with lazy or inefficient seniors and subordinates.

[4]The military historian Correlli Barnett said Maxse was "One of the ablest officers of his generation, a man of originality and drive, and a formidable personality".