Robert Pollok (British Army officer)
Major-General Robert Valentine Pollok CB CBE DSO (1884–1979) was an Irish-born British Army officer who became General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland District.
Robert Pollok | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | "Val"[1] |
| Born | 1884 Ballinasloe, County Galway, Ireland |
| Died | 1979 (aged 94–95) |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |  British Army |
| Years of service | 1903–1941 |
| Rank | Major-General |
| Service number | 6066 |
| Unit | 15th The King's Hussars Irish Guards |
| Commands held | 1st Battalion, Irish Guards 1st Guards Brigade Senior Officers' School, Sheerness Northern Ireland District 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division |
| Battles/wars | World War I World War II |
| Awards | Companion of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order Mentioned in dispatches (4) |
Military career
After attending Eton and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Pollok was commissioned into the 15th Hussars in 1903.[2] He was appointed Aide-de-Camp to the Lieutenant Governor of United Provinces in India in 1908 and Aide-de-Camp to the Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Australia in 1913.[2]
He served in World War I with the Australian Forces in Gallipoli and then transferred to the Irish Guards in 1916.[2] He became Commanding Officer of 1st Bn Irish Guards in 1917.[2]
After the War he attended the Staff College, Camberley from 1920–1921, was appointed Brigade Major for the 1st Guards Brigade at Aldershot Command and then, in 1926, he was re-appointed Commanding Officer of 1st Bn Irish Guards.[2] He was made Commander of the 1st Guards Brigade at Aldershot Command in 1931 and Commandant of the Senior Officer School at Sheerness in 1935.[2]
He was appointed General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland District in 1938[3] and GOC 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division in July 1940.[2] He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in July 1940[4] and retired in 1941.[2]
References
- Smart 2005, p. 253.
- "Pollok, Robert". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. Archived from the original on 23 September 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
- "Pollok, Robert Valentine". Generals.dk. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
- "No. 34893". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 July 1940. p. 4244.
Bibliography
- Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 1844150496.