General Sir Walter Mervyn St George Kirke, GCB, CMG, DSO (19 January 1877 – 2 September 1949) was the Commander in Chief of the British Home Forces at the beginning of the Second World War.

[2] He was promoted to lieutenant on 21 September 1899, and to captain on 4 December 1901 while serving in Waziristan on the North West Frontier of India between 1901 and 1902.

This area of work comprised special duties, such as protective security, ciphers and censorship of post (news) and telegraphs.

Macdonogh and Kirke, who in February 1914 was promoted to brevet major,[6] travelled to France and spent two weeks on a walking tour of the French and Belgium borders, visiting areas that looked vulnerable to a German attack.

[2] In 1924 he was appointed Head of the British Military Mission to Finland and in 1925 President of Inter-Allied Commission of Investigation for Hungary.