Brigadier-General Sir George Henry Gater (26 December 1886 – 14 January 1963) was a senior British Army officer and civil servant. Early life Gater was born in Southampton, the son of William Henry Gater, a solicitor, and his wife, Ada Mary Welch. He was educated at Twyford School, Winchester College and New College, Oxford. After he achieved fourth in classical moderations (1907), he graduated with a second-class degree in modern history in 1909, and then took a diploma in education. He trained as a teacher, and became Director of Education for Nottinghamshire County Council in 1911. First World War Upon the outbreak of the First World War, Gater enlisted as a second lieutenant in the Sherwood Foresters, his local regiment. and promoted to lieutenant in October. He was promoted to captain in 1915, before being deployed to Gallipoli with the 9th battalion of his regiment, part of the 33rd Brigade of the 11th (Northern) Division. He was promoted to major whilst serving in the Gallipoli Campaign. His unit was evacuated from the Mediterranean in December 1915, being redeployed to the Western Front in 1916. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in October 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. That same month he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and given command of the 6th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment. Whilst commanding the battalion at Messines, he sustained a wound in the mouth and ear by a shell splinter but remained on duty, and for this he was awarded a bar to his DSO. On 1 November 1917, Gater was chosen as commander of the 62nd Brigade after the death of Brigadier General Cecil Rawling. This appointment was unprecedented, as Gater had only served in the army for three years. He led the brigade during the German spring offensive of 1918, refusing to surrender his position despite its encirclement by German forces. He was wounded twice, mentioned in dispatches four times, awarded a DSO in the 1916 Birthday Honours when a temporary major and a bar in September 1917 when temporary lieutenant colonel, made a commander of the Légion d'honneur, awarded the French Croix de Guerre in November 1918, and made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1919 New Year Honours. All of his promotions were temporary, but he was given the honorary rank of brigadier general in 1919. Late life