Major-GeneralMajor General is a senior rank in the British Army. Since 1996 the highest position within The Royal Marines is the Commandant General Royal Marines who holds the rank of Major General....
Eric Louis Bols, CB,
DSOThe Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other Commonwealth countries, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.The DSO was instituted on 6 September 1886 by...
and
BarA medal bar or medal clasp is a thin metal bar attached to the ribbon of a military decoration, civil decoration, or other medal. It is most commonly used to indicate the campaign or operation the recipient received the award for, and multiple bars on the same medal are used to indicate that the...
(8 June 1904 – 14 June 1985) was an officer in the
British ArmyThe British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and...
, who was most notable for serving as the commanding officer of the
British 6th Airborne DivisionThe 6th Airborne Division was an airborne division in the British Army during the Second World War. It took part in Operation Tonga the airborne landings on the left flank of the invasion beaches in the Normandy Landings. It played a small part in the Battle of the Bulge and was involved in...
during
Operation VarsityOperation Varsity was a joint American–British airborne operation that took place toward the end of World War II. Involving more than 16,000 paratroopers and several thousand aircraft, it was the largest single airborne operation in history to be conducted on a single day and in one location.
in 1945. Born in SurreySurrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford...
in 1904, Bols joined the Army in 1924 and saw service in a number of areas of the British EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...
during the inter-war period, including Hong KongHong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
and ShanghaiShanghai is the largest city in China, and one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, with over 20 million people. Located on China's central eastern coast at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the city is administered as a municipality of the People's Republic of China with province-level...
, as well as MaltaMalta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed European country in the European Union. The Southern European island nation is an archipelago that includes the inhabited islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino, along with a number of smaller, uninhabited islands...
. He served as a Cadet Instructor at SandhurstSandhurst is a small town and civil parish in England of 7,966 homes and 20,803 inhabitants , primarily domiciliary in nature with a few light industries...
and attended courses at the British Army Staff College on promotion to captain.
When the Second World War began, Bols moved through several staff officer positions, serving in several institutions and Army formations before being promoted to colonel and taking charge of all training for the troops under the command of 21st Army Group and helping to plan Operation OverlordOperation Overlord was the code name for the invasion of western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation began on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy Landings when an airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault...
.
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Major-GeneralMajor General is a senior rank in the British Army. Since 1996 the highest position within The Royal Marines is the Commandant General Royal Marines who holds the rank of Major General....
Eric Louis Bols, CB,
DSOThe Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other Commonwealth countries, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.The DSO was instituted on 6 September 1886 by...
and
BarA medal bar or medal clasp is a thin metal bar attached to the ribbon of a military decoration, civil decoration, or other medal. It is most commonly used to indicate the campaign or operation the recipient received the award for, and multiple bars on the same medal are used to indicate that the...
(8 June 1904 – 14 June 1985) was an officer in the
British ArmyThe British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and...
, who was most notable for serving as the commanding officer of the
British 6th Airborne DivisionThe 6th Airborne Division was an airborne division in the British Army during the Second World War. It took part in Operation Tonga the airborne landings on the left flank of the invasion beaches in the Normandy Landings. It played a small part in the Battle of the Bulge and was involved in...
during
Operation VarsityOperation Varsity was a joint American–British airborne operation that took place toward the end of World War II. Involving more than 16,000 paratroopers and several thousand aircraft, it was the largest single airborne operation in history to be conducted on a single day and in one location.
in 1945. Born in SurreySurrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford...
in 1904, Bols joined the Army in 1924 and saw service in a number of areas of the British EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...
during the inter-war period, including Hong KongHong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
and ShanghaiShanghai is the largest city in China, and one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, with over 20 million people. Located on China's central eastern coast at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the city is administered as a municipality of the People's Republic of China with province-level...
, as well as MaltaMalta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed European country in the European Union. The Southern European island nation is an archipelago that includes the inhabited islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino, along with a number of smaller, uninhabited islands...
. He served as a Cadet Instructor at SandhurstSandhurst is a small town and civil parish in England of 7,966 homes and 20,803 inhabitants , primarily domiciliary in nature with a few light industries...
and attended courses at the British Army Staff College on promotion to captain.
When the Second World War began, Bols moved through several staff officer positions, serving in several institutions and Army formations before being promoted to colonel and taking charge of all training for the troops under the command of 21st Army Group and helping to plan Operation OverlordOperation Overlord was the code name for the invasion of western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation began on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy Landings when an airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault...
. Bols was then promoted again and commanded a brigade during the Allied advance through Western Europe, before taking command of the 6th Airborne Division in late 1944. He led the division in the Battle of the BulgeThe Ardennes Offensive was a major German offensive , launched towards the end of World War II through the forested Ardennes Mountains region of Belgium , France and Luxembourg on the Western Front...
, as well as Operation VarsityOperation Varsity was a joint American–British airborne operation that took place toward the end of World War II. Involving more than 16,000 paratroopers and several thousand aircraft, it was the largest single airborne operation in history to be conducted on a single day and in one location.
, the airborne operation to cross the River RhineThe Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at , with an average discharge of more than ....
, then led the division into northern GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
until the end of the conflict. After the end of the war Bols remained in command of the division in peace-keeping duties in the Middle East, and then retired in 1948 as a major-general.
Early life and career
Bols was born in CamberleyCamberley is a town in Surrey, England, situated 31 miles south west of central London, in the corridor between the M3 and M4 motorways...
in SurreySurrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford...
in June 1904. His father, Louis BolsLieutenant-General Sir Louis Jean Bols KCB, KCMG, DSO was educated at Lancing College in Sussex. He was a distinguished British military officer...
, was born in QuebecQuebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, and was the son of the Belgian Consul stationed in QuebecQuebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
and later London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
. Louis Bols, who was a dual BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
and Belgian national, travelled around the world and mastered some even foreign languages, before eventually met his wife and settling down. He served during the First World War, acting as the Chief of StaffA chief of staff, also known as a principal staff officer, is the coordinator of the supporting staff and primary aide to an important individual, such as an Office of the Prime Minister-Civilian:*Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister...
for GeneralGeneral is currently the highest peace-time rank in the British Army and Royal Marines. It is the equivalent of a 4 star rank, and is subordinate to the Army rank of Field Marshal and the Royal Marines rank of Captain General Royal Marines....
AllenbyField Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby GCB, GCMG, GCVO was a British soldier and administrator most famous for his role during World War I, in which he led the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in the conquest of Palestine and Syria in 1917 and 1918.Allenby, nicknamed the...
for the majority of the conflict. Eric Bols was born when his father was attending Staff College, and was educated in several institutions, including Royal Military Academy SandhurstThe Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is the British Army officer initial training centre...
before being commissioned as a second lieutenantSecond Lieutenant is the lowest commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.In British English the rank is pronounced second /lɛf'tɛnənt/ , while in American English it is pronounced second /lu'tɛnənt/ ....
in the Devonshire Regiment on 30 January 1924. He was promoted to LieutenantFirst Lieutenant is a military rank.The rank of Lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
on 31 January 1926, and in 1927, Bols was sent with his regiment to ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
, first being stationed in Hong KongHong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
but later moving to ShanghaiShanghai is the largest city in China, and one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, with over 20 million people. Located on China's central eastern coast at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the city is administered as a municipality of the People's Republic of China with province-level...
, his battalion being tasked with helping to keep the peace in the region. However, he did not stay for very long in China, with his early career being marked by a series of rapid transfers from region to region, and by 1928 he was stationed in MaltaMalta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed European country in the European Union. The Southern European island nation is an archipelago that includes the inhabited islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino, along with a number of smaller, uninhabited islands...
, where he found himself playing poloPolo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a long-handled mallet...
with then-LordLord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...
Louis Mountbatten, who was also stationed on the island at the same time. From here his career progressed rapidly, appointed an instructor at the Signals School at Catterick GarrisonCatterick Garrison is a major Army base located in Northern England. It is the largest British Army garrison in the world with a population of around 12,000, plus a large temporary population of soldiers, and is larger than its older neighbour...
from 27 June 1928 to 29 December 1931 and then becoming an officer of a Company of Cadets at Sandhurst from 6 May 1934 to 21 January 1935 and then to study at the Staff College, Camberley. He was also promoted Captain from that date, transferring to the King's (Liverpool) Regiment, there being no vacancies in the Devonshires.
Bols returned to regimental duty for a few months from 22 December 1936, having completed the staff course. On 30 August 1937 he was seconded to the staff of the Ceylon Defence Force with the local rank of major.
World War II
When the Second World War began in September 1939, Bols was still in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). The rank of Major was made substantive from 25 February 1940 (though he did not immediately receive the pay and allowances for the rank). He went on to act as an instructor at the Staff College, Camberley, a General Staff Officer (GSO) with the 51st (Highland) Division, then commanded the 3rd Reconnaissance Regiment and acted as the colonel in charge of training for the 21st Army Group. Bols was also involved in planning for Operation OverlordOperation Overlord was the code name for the invasion of western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation began on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy Landings when an airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault...
as well as helping to train the soldiers who would participate in the Invasion of Normandy. When the invasion began on 6 June, 1944 Bols did not participate directly, being retained at the War OfficeThe War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1963, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
as a staff officer, but was given command of 185th Infantry Brigade-History:The Brigade together with 8th Infantry Brigade and 9th Infantry Brigade formed the 3rd Infantry Division and participated in the ill-fated British Expeditionary Force, which evacuated from Dunkirk early in World War II....
in the 3rd Division during the Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine. He was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service OrderThe Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other Commonwealth countries, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.The DSO was instituted on 6 September 1886 by...
(DSO) for his command of the brigade during the Battle of OverloonThe Battle of Overloon was a Second World War battle between Allied forces and the German army which took place in and around the village of Overloon in the south-east of the Netherlands between September 30th and October 18th, 1944. The battle, which resulted in an Allied victory, ensued after...
and the subsequent liberation of OverloonOverloon, mun. Boxmeer, is a village in the Netherlands in the province of North Brabant. It is best known as the site of the National Museum of War and Resistance of the Netherlands, and for a World War II battle that occurred around the village in September and October 1944.FootballOverloon has...
and VenrayVenray is a municipality and a town in the southeastern Netherlands.- Population centres :Castenray, Heide, Leunen, Merselo, Oirlo, Oostrum Lb, Smakt, Venray, Veulen, Vredepeel, Ysselsteyn....
in the NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
; the recommendation for the award of the DSO makes particular mention of the achievement of the brigade in forcing the River Breek despite heavy resistance, poor weather and shortage of assault equipment. The award was gazettedThe London Gazette is one of the official journals of record of the British government, and the most important among such official journals in the UK, in which certain statutory notices are required to be published...
on 1 March 1945.
When Bols was finally offered the command of the 6th Airborne Division in 1944, he had not previously commanded a military formation as large as a division. Bols took command shortly before Christmas of 1944, superseding General GaleGeneral Sir Richard Nelson Gale GCB, KBE, DSO, MC was a soldier in the British Army who served in both world wars. In World War I he was awarded the Military Cross in 1918 whilst serving as a junior officer in the Machine Gun Corps...
, who had previously commanded it during Operation TongaThis article summarizes British airborne operations during the Normandy Landings. For American airborne operations, see American airborne landings in Normandy...
, the British airborne landings in Normandy. He was granted the acting rank of major-general from 6 December 1944. When he took command the division was back in the United Kingdom, expecting a quiet Christmas training and reorganising. However, with the situation in the ArdennesThe Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and old mountains formed on the Givetian Ardennes mountains, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...
deteriorating it was thrown into the Battle of the BulgeThe Ardennes Offensive was a major German offensive , launched towards the end of World War II through the forested Ardennes Mountains region of Belgium , France and Luxembourg on the Western Front...
to support American forces in repelling the German counter-offensive between December 1944 and January 1945, one of only a small number of British formations to do so. The division conducted a counter-attack beginning 3 January alongside other British units, advancing against fierce German resistance until the division linked up with elements of the United States Third Army. Bols then commanded the division as it participated in Operation VarsityOperation Varsity was a joint American–British airborne operation that took place toward the end of World War II. Involving more than 16,000 paratroopers and several thousand aircraft, it was the largest single airborne operation in history to be conducted on a single day and in one location.
, the airborne assault over the Rhine, alongside the US 17th Airborne Division in March 1945. He landed with the divisional glider troopsAirborne forces are military units, usually light infantry, set up to be moved by aircraft and 'dropped' into battle. Thus they can be placed behind enemy lines, and have an ability to deploy almost anywhere with little warning...
in the initial phases of the operation, commanding from the front, and received both a BarA medal bar or medal clasp is a thin metal bar attached to the ribbon of a military decoration, civil decoration, or other medal. It is most commonly used to indicate the campaign or operation the recipient received the award for, and multiple bars on the same medal are used to indicate that the...
to his DSO and the American Silver StarThe Silver Star is the third highest military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is also the third highest award given for valor ....
(on the recommendation of Matthew RidgwayMatthew Bunker Ridgway was a United States Army General. He held several major commands and was most famous for resurrecting the United Nations war effort during the Korean War. Several historians have credited Ridgway for turning around the war in favor of the UN side...
) as a result. After the division had crossed the Rhine, it then advanced through the North German PlainThe North German Plain or Northern Lowland is one of the major geographical regions of Germany. The region is delimited by the coasts of the North Sea and Baltic Sea to the north and Germany's Central Uplands to the south....
until it linked up with Russian forces at Wismar on 2 May, the first British unit to do so. On 5 July 1945 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).
Post-War
At the end of the conflict, Bols retained his temporary rank of major-general (and his war substantive rank was increased to Colonel) and with it command of the 6th Airborne Division. On 21 September 1945 he traveled to EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
with his Headquarters staff, arriving shortly after at his final destination, Tel AvivTel Aviv-Yafo , usually called Tel Aviv, is the second largest city in Israel, with an estimated population of 391,300. The city is situated on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline, with a land area of...
. The rest of the division followed. He commanded the division whilst it conducted peace-keeping duties in Palestine. After almost three years service in the Middle East, Bols retired from the Army with the honorary rank of major-general (his actual regimental rank was still that of lieutenant-colonel) on 8 January 1948. In 1965, it was reported by The TimesThe Times is a daily national newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register....
that the former Russian General and then Soviet Deputy Defence Minister Konstantin RokossovskyKonstantin Rokossovskiy was a Soviet military commander, marshal, and Polish Defense Minister.- Biography :Rokossovsky was born in Warsaw, Poland; his family moved to Warsaw with the appointment of his father as the inspector of the Warsaw Railways. The Rokossovsky family was a member of the...
argued in a journal article that Bols had attempted to use the 6th Airborne Division to 'infiltrate' Russian lines. Rokossovsky claimed that the division had manoeuvered behind Soviet troops advancing towards LubeckThe Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage is on UNESCO's list of World...
, and Russian troops had only avoided opening fire on the airborne troops when they had recognized the British uniforms they wore. Bols died at his home on 14 June, 1985 at the age of 81.
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