Companion of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order & Bar Silver Star (United States)[1]
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Sir Louis Bols
Major General Eric Louis Bols CB DSO & Bar (8 June 1904 – 14 June 1985) was a senior British Army officer, who, during World War II, was most notable for serving as the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 6th Airborne Division during the final years of the war.
Born in Surrey in 1904, the son of Louis Bols, he was educated at Lancing College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Bols joined the British Army in 1924 and saw service in a number of areas of the British Empire during the interwar period, including Hong Kong and Shanghai, as well as Malta. He served as a Cadet Instructor at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and attended courses at the Staff College, Camberley on promotion to captain.
When World War II began in September 1939, Bols moved through several staff officer positions, serving in several institutions and Army formations before being promoted to colonel and taking charge of all training for the troops under the command of 21st Army Group and helping to plan Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy. Bols was then promoted again and commanded the 185th Infantry Brigade during the Allied advance through Western Europe, before taking over command of the 6th Airborne Division from Major General Richard Gale in late 1944. He led the division in the Battle of the Bulge, as well as Operation Varsity, the airborne operation to cross the River Rhine, then led the division into northern Germany until the end of the conflict. Canadian paratroopers captured the town of Wismar in the late days of the war, in order to stop the Soviet army from invading Denmark. Bols was the officer who met face-to-face with the Soviets in Wismar, insisting on allied hold of the captured city, contrary to Yalta conference agreements. He effected a temporary Soviet halt. In the meantime, Lübeck and Hamburg could surrender to allied troops, and finally Denmark was liberated by the allies under the command of Field Marshal Montgomery. After the end of the war Bols remained in command of the division in peace-keeping duties in the Middle East, and then retired in 1948 as a major general.[2]
^"Obituary—Maj-Gen E. L. Bols—Command of airborne assault over the Rhine". Obituaries. The Times. No. 62164. London. 14 June 1985. col G, p. 16.
^"British Army officer histories". Unit Histories. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
Surrey in 1904, the son of Louis Bols, he was educated at Lancing College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Bols joined the British Army in 1924...
sophomore BolBol, son of Manute Bol". MaxPreps. January 20, 2016. Archived from the original on June 27, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2018. Bossi, Eric (January...
served as the Governor of Bermuda. Bols was born in Cape Town[citation needed] to Louis Guillaume Michael Joseph Bols of Belgium and Mary Wilhelmina Davidson...
formations, the British 6th Airborne Division, commanded by Major-General EricBols, was a veteran division; it had taken part in Operation Overlord, the...
Manute Bol (/məˈnuːt ˈboʊl/ mə-NOOT BOWL; d. June 19, 2010) was a Sudanese-American professional basketball player and political activist. Listed at 7 ft...
Germany. Still commanded by its last wartime commander, Major General EricBols, the division began deployment to Palestine in 1945. The advance party...
brigade formed part of the 6th Airborne Division, then under Major General EricBols, and was sent with the rest of the division to Palestine towards the end...
to England. In December the division, now commanded by Major General EricBols, was sent to Belgium where it played a relatively minor role in the Battle...
Femke Bol (pronounced [ˈfɛmkə bɔl] ; born 23 February 2000) is a Dutch track and field athlete who competes in hurdling and sprinting. She specialises...
Counties) Division 1946–1947 Succeeded by Philip Gregson-Ellis Preceded by EricBols GOC 6th Airborne Division 1947–1948 Division disbanded Preceded by Francis...
was commissioned into the Somerset Light Infantry on 30 January 1924. EricBols and Robert King were among his fellow graduates, both also future major-generals...
(1830—1882), Indian Army Major-General EricBols (1904—1985), GOC 6th Airborne Division Lieutenant-General Sir Louis Bols (1867—1930), GOC 43rd (Wessex) Infantry...
College, Camberley, from 1935 to 1936, where his fellow students included EricBols, Terence Airey, Joseph Charles Haydon, Geoffrey Bourne, Walter Lentaigne...
rank during the Second World War or in the years after. They included EricBols, John Whitfield, Robert Arkwright, Lewis Lyne, Geoffrey Bourne and Robert...
Archived from the original on February 23, 2011. BasketballReference.com: Eric Musselman Eric Musselman blog: Eric Musselman Eric Musselman on Twitter...
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