Lieutenant-General Bindon Blood was born on 7 November 1842 in Jedburgh, Scotland. He is reported to have been related to Colonel Thomas Blood who attempted to steal the Crown Jewels in 1671.
Blood was commissioned in 1860 in the Royal Engineers and spent some time in Zululand in the early 1870’s.
During the South African War (1899-1902) Lord Kitchener requested Blood be sent to South Africa for service and he arrived in the country in March 1901. He spent six months fighting in the Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga) during the guerrilla phase of the war before returning to India to take up the position of Commander-in-Chief Punjab Province.
