Major-General Sir (William) James Norman Cooke-Collis, (7 May 1876 – 14 April 1941) was

General Officer Commanding General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (and some other nations, such as Ireland) to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC ...

Military career

Cooke-Collis was born on 7 May 1876 in Castle Cooke, Kilworth,

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

to Lt.-Colonel William Cooke-Collis and Catherine Maria Cooke-Collis (née Oliphant) and was educated at

Cheltenham College Cheltenham College is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1841 as a Church of England foundation and is known for its outstanding linguis ...

. He was first commissioned into a

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

battalion of the King's Royal Rifle Corps, transferring to the regular army with appointment as second lieutenant in the Royal Irish Rifles (later the Royal Ulster Rifles) on 24 February 1900. He served with Mounted infantry in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

from 1900 to 1902, and was wounded in the attack on Dewetsdorp in November 1900. For his service in the war, he was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

and received the Queen's South Africa Medal with three clasps. Following the end of the war in June 1902, he left South Africa on the SS ''Kinfauns Castle'' in October 1902. He was promoted to

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on 10 December 1902. He later served in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. After the War he was appointed Military Governor at Batoum (present-day

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second-largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast ...

) in

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. He became

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of 11th Infantry Brigade in 1927 and, after serving on half-pay in November 1931, became Commander of the 55th (West Lancashire) Division in 1934. He was appointed

Northern Ireland District in 1935. He was responsible for ensuring that the Royal Ulster Rifles had its depot in

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, its own recruiting ground, rather than in

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. He was invested as a Knight Commander,

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in 1937. He retired in 1938 and died on 14 April 1941, aged 64.

Family

He married Cléonice Gamble, daughter of Major George Francis Gamble on 30 January 1906.Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, editor, Burke's Irish Family Records (London, U.K.: Burkes Peerage Ltd, 1976), page 260

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke-Collis, James 1876 births 1941 deaths Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Distinguished Service Order King's Royal Rifle Corps officers Royal Ulster Rifles officers British Army major generals British Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from County Cork