William Bartholomew (British Army officer)

Educated at Newton College, South Devon and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Bartholomew was commissioned into the Royal Artillery on 23 March 1897.[2][3] He was promoted to lieutenant on 23 March 1900,[4] and to captain on 22 March 1902.[5] He attended the Staff College, Quetta from 1909 to 1910.[1]

Bartholomew served in the First World War initially as a General Staff Officer in 4th Division, and then as a brigadier general on the General Staff of XX Corps from 1917 and on the General Staff of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force from 1918.[3][1]

After the war Bartholomew commanded the 6th Infantry Brigade from 1923 moving on to be Director of Recruiting and Organisation at the War Office in 1927.[3] He was appointed Commandant of the Imperial Defence College in 1929 and Director of Military Operations and Intelligence at the War Office in 1931.[3] He became Chief of the General Staff in India in 1934 and then General Officer Commanding-in-Chief for Northern Command in 1937; he retired in 1940 during the Second World War.[3][1]

Bartholomew was made an Aide de Camp General to the King from 1938 to 1940 and Colonel Commandant of the Royal Artillery from 1934 to 1937.[3][1]

In retirement, Bartholomew served as North Eastern Regional Commissioner for Civil Defence between 1940 and 1945.[3] He lived at Claxton Hall near York.[6] He donated over £20,000 in 1921 to the Public Dispensary and Hospital, Leeds; later becoming world-renowned St James' Teaching Hospital.

• Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnesley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 1844150496.

• British Army Officers 1939–1945
• Final Report of The Bartholomew Committee On Lessons To Be Learnt From The Operations In Flanders
• Generals of World War II