Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener (1850-1916), visited New Zealand in February and March 1910 and advised the Government on defence matters. Some of his recommendations were the establishment of the New Zealand Staff Corps (a corps of professional staff officers), a Territorial Force (to replace an ineffective Volunteer Force), and an extension of compulsory military training.

Lord Kitchener had some connections to New Zealand prior to his visit in 1910; his father had bought a South Island sheep station in the 1860's, and had at various times resided on it, and his older brother had also managed the property. Kitchener trained at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and had a distinguished military career. He served as a volunteer in the French Army during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871); was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1871; surveyed Western Palestine; was head of the Egyptian Army (British) 1892-1899; led an invasion of the Sudan in 1896; commanded the Imperial forces during the South African War (1900-1902); was commander-in-chief in India, and reformed the Indian Army (1902-1909); was Governor-General of Egypt and the Sudan (1911-1914); and was made Secretary of State for War in 1914. Lord Kitchener drowned on 5 June 1916 when the Royal Navy vessel he was aboard, HMS "Hampshire", was sunk by a mine off the Orkney Islands.

Oil, 1718 x 1429mm Franco-Prussian War; Sudan; Egypt; South African War; World War I

Archives Reference: AAAC 898 NCWA 529 warart.archives.govt.nz/node/307