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 William Pasfield Oliver (8 September 1901 – 26 February 1981), was a senior

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 ...

officer who served as Vice Chief of the Imperial General Staff from 1955 to 1957.

Early life

Oliver was born in

Teddington Teddington is an affluent suburb of London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Historically an Civil parish#ancient parishes, ancient parish in the county of Middlesex and situated close to the border with Surrey, the district became ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, the son of

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

captain Pasfield Victor Oliver and Charlotte Winifred Richards. He was educated at King's College School, Cambridge, Radley College, and 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 ...

Military career

After passing out from Sandhurst, Oliver was commissioned into the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment on 24 December 1920.Sir William Oliver
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. After being 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 ...

on 24 December 1922, he became

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 ...

of his regiment in 1927 and, after being promoted 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 ...

on 1 January 1931, went on to be an instructor at the Army School of Physical Training at

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

in 1931. He attended the Staff College, Camberley from 1934 to 1935. He then went out to

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 ...

as a staff captain in 1936 and then became a General Staff Officer (GSO) in 1937. He was promoted to

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

on 1 August 1938. He served 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 ...

as a lieutenant colonel on the staff of the Tactical School in 1940 before becoming a general staff officer at Southern Command in 1940. He 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 70th Battalion, Welch Regiment in 1941 and then became a general staff officer with responsibility for operations at Eastern Command in 1942. He was deputy director of Military Operations 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 ...

later in 1942 and then brigadier on the General Staff at 9th Army HQ in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

from 1943. He was made director of Military Operations for Middle East Land Forces in 1944 and then returned to his post as brigadier on the General Staff at 9th Army HQ in the Middle East in 1944. He 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 ...

to General Sir Bernard Paget at General Headquarters, Middle East Command, in 1945. On 3 August 1945 Oliver was promoted to the acting rank of major-general. After the war he became

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

31st Independent Infantry Brigade, part of

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 ...

, from 1948 and Chief Army Instructor at the Imperial Defence College from 1949. He became

at Eastern Command in 1951 and principal staff officer to the High Commissioner in the

Federation of Malaya Malaya, officially the Federation of Malaya, was a country in Southeast Asia from 1948 to 1963. It succeeded the Malayan Union and, before that, British Malaya. It comprised eleven states – nine Malay states and two of the Straits Settleme ...

in 1953. He was made Commandant of the British Sector in Berlin in 1954 and Vice Chief of the Imperial General Staff in 1955. He retired in 1957. He was principal staff officer to the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations from 1957 to 1959 and British High Commissioner to Australia from 1959 to 1965. Finally he was UK Commissioner General for

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 28 to October 29, 1967. It was a category one world's fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most s ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. He was also a member of a committee set up in 1968 to review arrangements for Rhodesian passports following the

Unilateral Declaration of Independence A unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) or "unilateral secession" is a formal process leading to the establishment of a new state by a subnational entity which declares itself independent and sovereign without a formal agreement with the ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 191920 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1979. He w ...

in 1965.Rhodesian Passports
Hansard, 17 June 1968.

References

External links

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, William 1901 births 1981 deaths People educated at Radley College Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment officers Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George British Army lieutenant generals High commissioners of the United Kingdom to Australia British Army generals of World War II People from Teddington War Office personnel in World War II Military personnel from the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Academics of the Royal College of Defence Studies