Britain
Herbert Plumer
1857–1932 Commander, Second Army; Messines and bite-and-hold at Ypres
Plumer was a short, stout, white-moustached general known to his men as 'Daddy' or 'Old Plum'. He looked like a character from a comic paper and was one of the most competent British commanders of the war. He spent years in the Ypres salient, and prepared his battles with scrupulous care, with attention to the mines, the guns, the supply system and the training of his troops. At Messines in June 1917 he achieved a nearly perfect limited victory; at Menin Road Ridge, Polygon Wood and Broodseinde he showed how to advance in steps. He was sent to Italy after Caporetto and returned in 1918 to command the Second Army again. Later Lord Plumer, he was governor of Malta and High Commissioner in Palestine.