Lieutenant General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...
Sir Louis Jean Bols, (23 November 1867 – 13 September 1930) was a
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 ...
general, who served as
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 ...
of
Edmund Allenby
Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, (23 April 1861 – 14 May 1936) was a senior British Army Officer (armed forces), officer and imperial governor. He fought in the Second Boer ...
's
Third Army on the
Western Front and in the
Sinai and Palestine campaign
The Sinai and Palestine campaign was part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I, taking place between January 1915 and October 1918. The British Empire, the French Third Republic, and the Kingdom of Italy fought alongside the Arab Revol ...
during 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 ...
. From 1927 until his death he served as the
Governor of Bermuda
The governor of Bermuda (officially Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Somers Isles (alias the Islands of Bermuda)) is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Bermuda.
For the purposes of this arti ...
.
Early life and education
Bols was born in
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
to Louis Guillaume Michael Joseph Bols of Belgium and Mary Wilhelmina Davidson. He was educated at
Lancing College
Lancing College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school) for pupils aged 13–18 in southern England, UK. The school is located in West S ...
in England and
Bishop's College School
Bishop's College School or BCS is an English-language non-profit independent school, independent boarding school, boarding College-preparatory school,
prep school in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada for students in Grades 7 to 12.Thomson, Ashley; L ...
in Canada.
Military career

After graduating from the
Royal Military College, Sandhurst
The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...
, Bols was commissioned a
second lieutenant in the
Devonshire Regiment
The Devonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that served under various titles and served in many wars and conflicts from 1685 to 1958, such as the Second Boer War, the World War I, First World War and the World War II, ...
on 5 February 1887, and was promoted to
lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
, dated 22 September 1889.
In 1891–92 he served in
Burma
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...
, including operations in the
Kachin Hills, and received the operational medal with clasp. In 1895 he served with the
Chitral
Chitral () is a city situated on the Kunar River, Chitral River in northern area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Lower Chitral District, and was previously the capital of Chitral District, and before ...
Relief Force under
Sir Robert Low as
adjutant
Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...
and
quartermaster
Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land army, armies, a quartermaster is an officer who supervises military logistics, logistics and requisitions, manages stores or barracks, and distri ...
at the British Military Depot. Promotion to
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
followed on 18 January 1897, and he served as adjutant of the 2nd Battalion of his regiment from 17 February 1899.
Following the outbreak of 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 ...
in late 1899, his battalion was sent to South Africa, where he served as adjutant of the battalion throughout the war. He was present at the
Battle of Colenso (15 December 1899),
Battle of Vaal Krantz (5–7 February 1900),
Battle of the Tugela Heights (14–27 February 1900) and the
Relief of Ladysmith
The Relief of Ladysmith consisted of multiple efforts to relieve the city of Ladysmith by General Sir Redvers Buller during the Second Boer War. Buller and the Natal Field Force attempted to relieve the city through multiple offensive actions ...
(1 March 1900), and later in operations in the
Transvaal
Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''.
* South African Republic (1856–1902; ...
and
Orange River Colony
The Orange River Colony was the British colony created after Britain first occupied (1900) and then annexed (1902) the independent Orange Free State in the Second Boer War. The colony ceased to exist in 1910, when it was absorbed into the Unio ...
. For his services in the war, he was twice
mentioned in dispatches
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 ...
, received the
Queen's South Africa Medal
The Queen's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to British and Colonial military personnel, and to civilians employed in an official capacity, who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa. Altogether twenty-six clasps wer ...
, and was appointed a Companion of 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 ...
(DSO). After peace was declared in May 1902, Bols left South Africa on board the SS ''Bavarian'' and arrived in the United Kingdom the following month.
Bols, who in January 1905 was promoted from supernumerary captain to captain, was in February made commander of a company of
gentlemen cadets. Made a major in October 1906, he was in January 1907 made a
brigade major
A brigade major was the chief of staff of a brigade in the British Army. They most commonly held the rank of major, although the appointment was also held by captains, and was head of the brigade's "G - Operations and Intelligence" section direct ...
.
In May 1910 he went to the
Staff College, Camberley
Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which ...
as a deputy assistant quartermaster general and was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel while in this role, before succeeding Lieutenant Colonel
Charles Hull as a GSO2 at the Staff College in February 1912. He transferred from the Devonshires to the
Dorsetshire Regiment as a lieutenant colonel in February 1914 and took command of the 2nd Battalion of his new regiment, five months before the start of 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 ...
.
At the
Second Battle of Ypres
The Second Battle of Ypres was fought from 22 April – 25 May 1915, during the First World War, for control of the tactically-important high ground to the east and the south of the Flanders, Flemish town of Ypres, in western Belgium. The ...
in 1915 Bols, having been promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier general in February, held the command of the
84th Infantry Brigade, part of the
28th Division. That same month saw him made a
Companion of the Order of the Bath
Companion may refer to:
Relationships Currently
* Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance
* A domestic partner, akin to a spouse
* Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach
* Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...
. while in June his permanent rank was advanced to brevet colonel. In late September he moved to the newly created
XII Corps to serve as its brigadier general, general staff.

In October that year he was promoted again, now to temporary major general, and served as major general, general staff (MGGS) of the
Third Army of the
British Expeditionary Force (BEF), commanded briefly by General
Sir Charles Monro before he was replaced by General
Sir Edmund Allenby. Bols was to serve with Allenby, both on the
Western Front in 1916 and in 1917, and later in 1917–18 in Palestine.
From January to June 1920 Bols, who had been promoted in January 1917 to substantive major general, served as the
Chief Administrator of Palestine, and signed over power to
Herbert Samuel, the first British
High Commissioner of Palestine
High may refer to:
Science and technology
* Height
* High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area
* High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory
* High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift t ...
, who confirmed in an often-quoted document: "Received from Major-General Sir Louis J. Bols K.C.B.—One Palestine, complete."
Bols went on to become General Officer Commanding
43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division
The 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division was an infantry Division (military), division of Britain's Territorial Army (United Kingdom), Territorial Army (TA). The division was first formed in 1908, as the Wessex Division. During the World War I, First ...
in September 1920.
From 1927 to his death he was
Governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
and General Officer Commanding of the
army garrison of the
Imperial fortress
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, Lord Salisbury described Malta, Gibraltar, Bermuda, and Halifax as Imperial fortresses at the 1887 Colonial Conference, though by that point they had been so designated for decades. Later histor ...
colony
A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...
of
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest.
Bermuda is an ...
. He also served as colonel of the
Devonshire Regiment
The Devonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that served under various titles and served in many wars and conflicts from 1685 to 1958, such as the Second Boer War, the World War I, First World War and the World War II, ...
from 1921 to his death.
Bols died in his 63rd year on 13 September 1930 in a nursing home in the city of
Bath
Bath may refer to:
* Bathing, immersion in a fluid
** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body
** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe
* Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities
Plac ...
,
Somerset
Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...
, while on leave from Bermuda.
Personal life
Bols married Augusta Blanche Strickland and had two sons, Major-General
Eric Bols, and Major Kenneth Bols (killed in action in Italy in 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 ...
).
References
External links
Louis Jean Bolsbio at firstworldwar.com
at angloboerwar.com
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bols, Louis
1867 births
1930 deaths
Administrators of Palestine
British Army generals of World War I
British Army personnel of the Second Boer War
British military personnel of the Chitral Expedition
British people of Belgian descent
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Devonshire Regiment officers
Governors of Bermuda
Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
British recipients of the Legion of Honour
People educated at Lancing College
British Army lieutenant generals
Military personnel from Cape Town
Bishop's College School alumni
Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir
Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd class
Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst
Academics of the Staff College, Camberley
Academics of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst