Autograph request
Sent by Bray to Colonel F. + (Cigarette card featuring Colonel Howard) + Field Forces, South Africa on 15th November 1900 requesting his autograph.
Postcard with a cigarette card attached with the name portion removed leaving the postal authorities the challenge of identifying the intended recipient.
In addition to various circular datestamps, the card also bears a rectangular instructional mark stating that the card "To be returned to address on cover. From Army Base Post Office, Cape Town".
Major-General Sir Francis Howard KCB KCMG DL (26 March 1848 21 March 1930) was a British Army general in the early years of the twentieth century.
Howard was commissioned into the Rifle Brigade in 1866. He took part in the Jowaki Expedition in India in 1877 and then in and the Bazaar Valley and Lughman Expeditions of 1878 and 1879, before taking part in operations in Upper Burma in 1887 to 1889.
In 1894 he was appointed Commander 2nd Bn of the Rifle Brigade, and he took part in the Battle of Omdurman in 1898.
During the Second Boer War, he was Commander of 8th Brigade and took part in the Defence of Ladysmith in 1900. He later served on the Staff and was placed on half-pay 26 December 1900.
He was made Inspector General of Auxiliary Forces and Recruiting at the War Office in 1903 and then Commander of North Western District in 1904. He was appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief at Western Command in 1905 and retired in 1907. He was recalled as Inspector of Infantry during World War I. On 9 December 1919, Howard was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Gloucestershire.
Also shown is a cigarette card featuring Howard.
