Lieutenant-General French died on 22 May 1925 at the age of 72.
On entering the ‘military’ he saw brief service in the Royal Navy, before becoming a cavalry officer. He took part in the Gordon Relief Expedition in 1845 which arrived two days too late to save the massacre of thousands of civilians as well as the death of Major-General Charles Gordon.
French became a household name and somewhat of a national hero during the South African War (Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902). He was at the Battle of Elandslaagte, but managed to avoid being in Ladysmith during the siege by being on the last train to leave the town before the siege started. He saw service in battles to relieve Kimberley and was the first senior British Officer to enter the town on the relief, where he was taken to meet with Rhodes. He was then part of the force that marched north, occupied Bloemfontein, Johannesburg and Pretoria. He saw action at the last set piece battle of the war, Bergendal, before being very active in the guerrilla phase of the war.
