Major General John Frederick Charles Fuller served as a British military officer in the 20th century. He was also an author, promoter of tank warfare and Nazi sympathizer. Fuller was the real brains behind the Wehrmacht’s Blitzkrieg tactics, George Patton’s rumbling, and other similar strategies. He was gifted with original ideas and a laser-like intensity. He was a trailblazing individual who contributed to the development of contemporary armored combat with his vision and modernist outlook. He was an officer in the British Army from 1899 until 1933, during which time he turned to becoming a military theorist, war historian, and strategist. Fuller is still most known for classifying the tenets of warfare. More than actually making a contribution on the battlefield, Fuller considered unusual but crucial ideas like the best way to conduct fights. He stood out and was distinct from the others as a result of this. Despite experiencing failure, Fuller persevered and devoted his entire life to developing fresh concepts for mechanized combat. His theories had an impact not only during the First World War but also during the Second World War when the Germans used them. Fuller began writing books after his time in the service and eventually became a military theorist and war historian.
Early Childhood & Life
J. F. C. Fuller was born in Chichester, West Sussex, England, on September 1, 1878. He and his parents moved to Lausanne when he was a small boy.
Fuller, however, left England at the age of eleven while his parents were still in Lausanne. He signed up for Malvern College three years later.
Fuller studied at the Royal Military Academy from 1897 to 1898. During this time, Fuller acquired the lifelong moniker Boney, which he kept.
Career of J. F. C. Fuller
When Fuller was sent to the Oxfordshire Light Infantry’s 1st Battalion in 1899, his career officially began. He was assigned to South Africa, where he worked until 1902.
Fuller participated in the Boer War during this time. However, he witnessed his first significant battle in the Transvaal. He was given command of 70 black scouts and a 4,000 square mile stretch of sparsely settled land to patrol during the Boer War.
He was transferred to India in 1904. He fell ill with enteric fever, nevertheless, and came back to England the next year on sick leave. Instead of being sent back to India once he was healthy again, he was sent to forces in England.
Before being admitted to the Staff College at Camberley in 1913, Fuller served as adjutant to the 2nd South Middlesex Volunteers and assisted in the formation of the 10th Middlesex.
After being hired, Fuller ran into difficulties in attempting to change the Field Service Regulations, the army’s holy operations manual.
When war broke out in 1914, Fuller’s reputation as a troublemaker led to his assignment to a junior General Staff officer position while his pals were deployed to the front. Rearranging the filing system at his post, creating an evacuation strategy for sheep in case of a German invasion, and deciding whether or not to deny such invaders access to alcohol in the local pubs were among his tasks.
Fuller served as the head of the Heavy Branch Headquarters of the Machine-Gun Corps, which would later become the Tank Corps, in 1916. Both the 1917 tank onslaught at Cambrai and the tank operations for the 1918 fall offensives were organized by him.
During the Battle of Cambrai, Fuller’s penetration strategies drove swarms of tanks past the Hindenburg Line. Although he expressed a desire to lead from the front, Lt. Col. Hugh Elles, his commander, assumed the role and became a national hero as a result.
The declaration of Fuller’s Plan 1919 is his most well-known wartime action. It suggested that an easy win could be achieved by launching a surprise mass tank attack, eliminating the enemy “brain,” or the rear-area command and communications equipment, and therefore paralyzing the body. However, the war came to an end in 1918, and Plan 1919 was abandoned as a result.
Fuller held a number of jobs after 1918, most notably that of commander of an experimental brigade at Aldershot. Fuller collaborated with Liddell Hart to create fresh concepts for the mechanization of armies.
In the 1920s, Fuller lost faith in the military due to his failure to implement tactical reform, and the military lost faith in Fuller as well. The emotions peaked when Fuller declined the chance to lead the Experimental Mechanized Force because he lacked additional people to help him and could not, as a result, accomplish the same.
In 1933, Fuller took his major general retirement. He joined Sir Oswald Mosley and the British Fascist organization after retiring. In addition to being one of Mosley’s closest supporters, he belonged to the Nordic League, a covert far-right organization.
He began writing and rose to prominence as a thinker and military historian. He expressed himself well in his writing and published contentious war forecasts. His “Nine Principles of War” are what people most often recall him for. Triads and Trichotomies, Organization of Force, The Unity of the Principles of War, Armament, and History are some of his other theories.
He also wrote many publications, including “Memoirs of an Unconventional Soldier,” “The Reformation of War,” “Tanks in the Great War,” and “On Future Warfare.”
Later in life, Fuller adopted the role of a reporter during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) and the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935.
Major Conflicts and Works
In both the First World War and the Second Boer War, Fuller made an outstanding contribution. His tactical thinking led to the development of two key theories: first, mobility was crucial, and second, a quick, deep attack is significantly more effective than the conventionally slow frontal assault.
Fuller’s ‘A Military History of the Western World’ is considered to be his most thorough written work. He examined Western warfare in the book from its inception to World War II.
Recognition & Achievements
Fuller received numerous honors for his great achievement, including the Distinguished Service Order, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and Companion of the Order of the Bath.
Personal Legacy & Life
In the year 1906, after returning to England from India on a medical leave, Fuller exchanged vows. The details of his wife and personal life are unknown.
Fuller passed away at 87 years old.
The net worth of J. F. C. Fuller
The estimated net worth of J. F. C. Fuller is about $1 million.
Trivia
Due to his tiny stature and wispy appearance, he was unsuccessful in his initial application to Sandhurst. Additionally, his chest was too tiny to pass muster at the British Military Academy.
Aleister Crowley, an English poet and magician, had him as a young follower. He was well-versed in Crowley’s works on magic and mysticism.
He entered and took first place in the competition to write the finest critique of Crowley’s work while he was serving with the Oxfordshire Light Infantry. It appears that he was the lone participant. Later, in 1907, he included this article in his book “The Star in the West.”