After defeating the Mahdist forces at Omdurman and reconquering Sudan in 1898, he served as Chief of Staff (1900–02) in the Second Boer War and Commander-in-Chief (1902–09) in India. At the outbreak of World War I he was made Secretary of State for War, in which capacity he was responsible for organizing the large volunteer army that eventually fought the war on the Western Front. His commanding image appeared on recruiting posters urging ‘Your country needs you!’ He died when the ship taking him to Russia was sunk by a mine.