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World War One was started by the assassination of Franz Ferdinand.
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Maude's World War One career began on the staff of General Pulteney's III Corps in France before, in October 1914, being promoted to Brigadier-General and handed command of 14th Brigade.
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Seriously wounded in April 1915 he was sent home to England for a rapid recuperation
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The next month he returned to his brigade before being promoted Major-General in June 1915 and appointed to command of 33rd Division, then currently training in England prior to a posting in France.
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With the signal failure of Sir John Nixon's command of Mesopotamian forces from April 1915 to January 1916, culminating in the humiliating surrender of Sir Charles Townshend's force at Kut in April 1916, the War Office in London resolved to appoint their own commander. Hence Maude received orders to proceed to Mesopotamia.
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Maude therefore replaced General Gorringe as commander of the so-called frontline Tigris Corps in July 1916. The following month he was given responsibility for the entire front. He immediately set about reorganising and re-supplying British and Indian forces in the region.
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Appointed by the Chief of the Imperial General Staff in London, Sir William Robertson, Maude's instructions were brief and rather unusual, to hold his existing line and to do nothing. In particular Robertson was keen that Maude should not make demands for resources otherwise intended.
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Maude leads his men into Baghdad to capture it and defeat the Ottoman Empire,
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A cautious and consistent rather than spectacular commander, Maude - known as 'Systematic Joe' - nevertheless led his forces in a series of victories up the Tigris, starting with the Second Battle of Kut right up to the capture of Baghdad on 11 March 1917.
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April 1917 saw Maude triumph again, at Samarrah, and he continued his offensive at Ramadi and Tikrit before calamity struck in early November 1917.
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Frederick dies from drinking contamonatied milk.
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General William Marshall was appointed to replace Maude in Mesopotamia.
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