General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Sir Alan Jolly, (12 November 1910 – 15 September 1977) was a senior officer of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

who served as

Quartermaster-General to the Forces The Quartermaster-General to the Forces (QMG) is a senior general in the British Army. The post has become symbolic: the Ministry of Defence organisation charts since 2011 have not used the term "Quartermaster-General to the Forces"; they simply ...

from 1966 to 1969.

Early career

Jolly joined the

and was commissioned into the

Royal Tank Corps The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is an armoured regiment equipped with Challenger 2 main battle tanks and structured under 12th A ...

in 1931. He served on the North-West Frontier in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

from 1936 to 1937.Sir Alan Jolly
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives

Second World War

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Jolly was appointed

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of the 144th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (144 RAC, previously the 8th Battalion of the

East Lancashire Regiment The East Lancashire Regiment was, from 1881 to 1958, a Line infantry, line infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot and 59t ...

) on 10 April 1944, and led it throughout the campaign in North-West Europe. The regiment landed in Normandy on 14 June 1944 and first went into action during Operation Pomegranate, supporting an infantry attack on Noyers. The advance was badly hampered by minefields (both Allied and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

), and 144 RAC had many tanks disabled by 'friendly' mines. This seriously reduced the force that could be used. The Official History records that "Noyers was attacked again and again" for two days, but the garrison held out, except around the station and Point 126, which was taken at bayonet point by 'A' Company of the 2/6th Battalion,

South Staffordshire Regiment The South Staffordshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for only 68 years. The regiment was created in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot a ...

, following 'A' Squadron 144 RAC.Jolly, ''The Battle of Noyers 16–18 July 1944'', Appendix to 144 RAC War Diary July 1944, The National Archives, Kew, file WO 171/878. Casualties to 144 RAC had been heavy and after the battle Jolly wrote a detailed report to highlight the tactical lessons learned. He became regarded as a good tactician, and infantry commanders bowed to his tactical judgement when planning joint operations. On 8 September 1944 RAC supported the

51st (Highland) Division The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry Division (military), division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in France during the World War I, First World War from 1915 to 1918. The division was ra ...

in the assault on the German-held French port of

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

( Operation Astonia). This difficult operation was successful. In October, Jolly was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

. In January 1945, 144 RAC cooperated with the

53rd (Welsh) Division The 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought in both the First and Second World Wars. Originally raised in 1908 as the Welsh Division, part of the Territorial Force (TF), the division saw service ...

in the British counter-attacks against the northern side of the 'Bulge' developed by the German

Ardennes offensive The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. Geological ...

.144 RAC War Diary January–February 1944, The National Archives, Kew, file WO 171/4720. In January 1945, 144 RAC became part of

79th Armoured Division The 79th Armoured Division was a specialist armoured division of the British Army created during the Second World War. The division was created as part of the preparations for the Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944, D-Day. Major-General Percy ...

, which operated specialist armoured vehicles, and the regiment re-equipped with Buffalo LVT amphibious vehicles to begin training for the assault crossing of the Rhine. On 1 March 1945, 144 RAC was redesignated

4th Royal Tank Regiment The 4th Royal Tank Regiment (4 RTR) was an armoured regiment of the British Army from its creation in 1917, during World War I, until 1993. It was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps. History The regiment or ...

to replace the original 4th RTR, which had been captured at

Tobruk Tobruk ( ; ; ) is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District (formerly Tobruk District) and has a population of 120,000 (2011 est.)."Tobruk" (history), ''Encyclop� ...

in June 1942. Jolly took the salute at the final parade of 144 RAC on 28 February, having arranged for the band of the East Lancashire Regiment to play the regimental march (144 RAC had originally been the 8th Battalion of the East Lancs). Jolly led the regiment under its new title in

Operation Plunder Operation Plunder was a military operation to cross the Rhine on the night of 23 March 1945, launched by the 21st Army Group under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. The crossing of the river was at Rees, Wesel, and south of the river Lippe b ...

, ferrying troops of the 51st (Highland) Division across the

River Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Swiss-Austrian border. From Lake Const ...

on the night of 23/24 March 1945. On landing, Jolly had the satisfaction of planting 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 ...

standard of the original 4th RTR on the far bank.

Postwar career

Jolly was appointed Deputy Quartermaster General for

British Army of the Rhine British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was the name given to British Army occupation forces in the Rhineland, West Germany, after the First and Second World Wars, and during the Cold War, becoming part of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) tasked ...

in 1957,

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 ...

(GOC) the 5th Division in 1959 and GOC 1st Division in 1960. He then became

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

for Southern Command in 1961 and Vice-Quartermaster-General at the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

in 1962. He went on to be GOC

Far East Land Forces The Far East Command was a British military command which had 2 distinct periods. These were firstly, 18 November 1940 – 7 January 1942 succeeded by the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM), and secondly, 1963–1971 succeeded b ...

in 1964; in this capacity he was able to report that, following British military intervention, there was hardly any terrorism in Malaysia by July 1965.Malaysian Forces Doing Well
The Age, 6 July 1965 He became

in 1966 and retired in 1969.

Notes

References

* Major L. F. Ellis, ''History of the Second World War: United Kingdom Military Series: Victory in the West'', Volume I: ''The Battle of Normandy'', London: HMSO, 1962/Uckfield: Naval & Military, 2004, . * Major L.F. Ellis, ''History of the Second World War: United Kingdom Military Series: Victory in the West'', Volume II: ''The Defeat of Germany'', London: HMSO, 1968/Uckfield: Naval & Military, 2004, . * Lt-Col Martin Lindsay, ''So Few Got Through'', London: Collins, 1946/Arrow Books (pbk; nd)/Leo Cooper, 2000, . Page references are to Arrow edition. * Tim Saunders, "''Operation Plunder: The British and Canadian Rhine Crossing'', Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2006, . , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Jolly, Alan 1910 births 1977 deaths Military personnel from Melbourne Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Royal Tank Regiment officers British Army generals British Army personnel of World War II