First World War
In March 1915, seven months into the war, he was promoted to temporary major general and appointed chief of staff to General Sir Ian Hamilton, commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (MEF), and served in this role throughout the disastrous Gallipoli campaign. He was regarded by many of the Australians involved in that effort as "arrogant and incompetent".
After the failure of the Mediterranean expedition, Braithwaite, whose rank of major general became substantive in June 1915 "for distinguished service in the Field", was recalled to London. He was, in December 1915, assigned to command of the 62nd (2nd West Riding) Division, a Territorial Force (TF) formation, which was posted to the Western Front in January 1917. Here he experienced considerable success. Although the division struggled to make headway during the Battle of Arras in April 1917, it proved a solid and reliable unit during the German spring offensive in March the following year.
Following success in repelling German advances at Bullecourt and Cambrai, Braithwaite, made a KCB in June 1918, was promoted to temporary lieutenant general on 27 August 1918 and was later given command of IX Corps on 13 September and, much later still, XII Corps. On 29 September Braithwaite's IX Corps was on the southern front line at the village of Bellenglise facing the canal, when the order came from Haig to attack through the Hindenburg Line. The assault was much more successful than earlier American and Australian efforts, encountering as they did, multiple gas attacks. The spearhead was led by the 46th (North Midland) Division, a TF formation. As Major H. J. C. Marshall, a divisional staff officer, recorded that they were not expected to advance far, leaving that to the Americans and Australians to their left. If they could not get a foothold they were had orders to swim across the canal in ice cold water. But divisional HQ had spared no effort to find all necessary equipment to achieve the objective. They advanced one hour later than the Americans under a hail of machine gun bullets and "cyclone of shells". A thick fog came down helping to mask them from German sight. Pushing on through the dawn's early light, a battalion of the North Staffordshire Regiment overran the German machine gun positions; the bridge's defenders were shot and killed, as the infantry fixed bayonets and charged. 5,000 German prisoners of war (POWs) were taken. For almost the first time in the war the attack had been an outstanding success. Brathwaite received plaudits from Monash and Rawlinson. The 46th Division recovered over 1,000 machine guns. Weeks later King George V visited Bellenglise, the site where the Hindenburg Line was breached by a Territorial unit.
Braithwaite was devastated by his son's death on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Having no heir, he burnt all his family papers. As successes emerged on the battlefields in late 1918, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, commander-in-chief (C-in-C) of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front, was effusive in praise of his officers' and men's achievement, showing the friendship and esteem for which he was held by Braithwaite all his life.
