Adrian Grant Duff

==Life==

==Life==

Born in London on 29 September 1869, he was the third son of [[Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff]] and his wife Anna Julia Webster.{{cite ODNB|id=38448|first=Ian F. W.|last=Beckett|title=Duff, Adrian Grant-}} He was educated at [[Wellington College, Berkshire|Wellington College]] and the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst|Royal Military College]] (Sandhurst), commissioning into the 2nd Battalion the Black Watch in 1889.{{cite journal|last=Winrow|first=Andrew|date=2009|title=Defender of the Realm: The Life and Work of Lieutenant Colonel Adrian Grant Duff, 1869-1914|journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research|volume=87|pages=300|jstor=44231708}}

Born in London on 29 September 1869, he was the third son of [[Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff]] and his wife Anna Julia Webster.{{cite ODNB|id=38448|first=Ian F. W.|last=Beckett|title=Duff, Adrian Grant-}} He was educated at [[Wellington College, Berkshire|Wellington College]] and the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst|Royal Military College]] (Sandhurst), commissioning into the 2nd Battalion the Black Watch as a [[second lieutenant]] on 23 March 1889.{{cite journal|last=Winrow|first=Andrew|date=2009|title=Defender of the Realm: The Life and Work of Lieutenant Colonel Adrian Grant Duff, 1869-1914|journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research|volume=87|pages=300|jstor=44231708}}

Grant Duff served in peacetime roles around the British Empire. He rejected a plan to transfer to the [[British South Africa Police]], based on advice from [[Robert Henry Meade]].{{cite journal|last=Winrow|first=Andrew|date=2009|title=Defender of the Realm: The Life and Work of Lieutenant Colonel Adrian Grant Duff, 1869-1914|journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research|volume=87|page=304|jstor=44231708}} He saw action during the [[Tirah campaign|Tirah Campaign]] and the [[Second Boer War|Second Anglo-Boer War]], before being seconded to the [[War Office]] in 1905 as staff captain. He became Assistant Secretary to the [[Committee of Imperial Defence]] there in 1910.

Grant Duff was promoted to [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] on 22 October 1890, and served in peacetime roles around the British Empire. He rejected a plan to transfer to the [[British South Africa Police]], based on advice from [[Robert Henry Meade]].{{cite journal|last=Winrow|first=Andrew|date=2009|title=Defender of the Realm: The Life and Work of Lieutenant Colonel Adrian Grant Duff, 1869-1914|journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research|volume=87|page=304|jstor=44231708}} He saw action during the [[Tirah campaign]] (1897–1898) and was promoted to [[Captain (BARM)|captain]] on 3 August 1898. Following the outbreak of the [[Second Boer War]] he served with his regiment in South Africa from 1899 to 1902, taking part in operations in [[Cape Colony]], south of [[Orange River]] in late 1899, including the campaign to [[Siege of Kimberley|relieve Kimberley]], where he was slightly wounded in the [[battle of Magersfontein]] (December 1899).Hart′s Army list, 1904 After his return to the United Kingdom he attended [[Staff College, Camberley]] in 1903,{{London Gazette |issue=27526 |date=20 February 1903 |page=1132 }} before being seconded to the [[War Office]] in 1905 as staff captain. He became Assistant Secretary to the [[Committee of Imperial Defence]] there in 1910.

At the War Office Grant Duff wrote ''Coordination of Departmental Action on the Occurrence of Strained Relations and on the Outbreak of War'', commonly known as the "War Book", which highlighted flaws in the British Government's preparations for a European War, and formed the basis for the British Expeditionary Force's plan to deploy to France and Belgium in 1914.{{cite journal|last=Winrow|first=Andrew|date=2009|title=Defender of the Realm: The Life and Work of Lieutenant Colonel Adrian Grant Duff, 1869-1914|journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research|volume=87|page=307|jstor=44231708}} He was much more impressed with the naval officer [[George Alexander Ballard]] than his superior [[Ernest Troubridge]] of the War Staff.{{cite ODNB|id=50221|first=N. A. M.|last=Rodger|title=Ballard, George Alexander}} Grant Duff was conservative, and held a low opinion of politicians in general, and the government handling of the [[Curragh incident]] in particular, as political interference in a military matter.

At the War Office Grant Duff wrote ''Coordination of Departmental Action on the Occurrence of Strained Relations and on the Outbreak of War'', commonly known as the "War Book", which highlighted flaws in the British Government's preparations for a European War, and formed the basis for the British Expeditionary Force's plan to deploy to France and Belgium in 1914.{{cite journal|last=Winrow|first=Andrew|date=2009|title=Defender of the Realm: The Life and Work of Lieutenant Colonel Adrian Grant Duff, 1869-1914|journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research|volume=87|page=307|jstor=44231708}} He was much more impressed with the naval officer [[George Alexander Ballard]] than his superior [[Ernest Troubridge]] of the War Staff.{{cite ODNB|id=50221|first=N. A. M.|last=Rodger|title=Ballard, George Alexander}} Grant Duff was conservative, and held a low opinion of politicians in general, and the government handling of the [[Curragh incident]] in particular, as political interference in a military matter.