Major General Sir Noel Galway Holmes KBE CB MC (25 December 1891 – 24 December 1982) was a senior British Army officer during the Second World War and a Davis Cup tennis player for Ireland in 1930.[1][2]
Noel Galway Holmes | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Major General Holmes in 1944. | |
| Born | 25 December 1891 Galway, Ireland |
| Died | 24 December 1982 (aged 90) |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service |  British Army |
| Years of service | 1912–1946 |
| Rank | Major general |
| Service number | 4842 |
| Unit | Royal Irish Regiment East Yorkshire Regiment |
| Commands | 1st Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment Aldershot District |
| Battles / wars | First World War Second World War |
| Awards | KBE CB MC Legion of Merit (USA) Legion d’Honneur (France) Croix de Guerre (France) |
Biography
editBorn in Galway, Ireland, on 25 December 1891, Holmes was educated at Bedford School. He joined the Royal Irish Regiment in 1912[3] and served in India between 1912 and 1914. During the First World War he served in France, winning the Military Cross in 1917.[4]
He served in Upper Silesia between 1921 and 1922. In 1922 he joined the East Yorkshire Regiment and, after attending the Staff College, Camberley from 1926 to 1927, served in India between 1933 and 1937.
During the Second World War he was Director of Movements at the War Office, between 1939 and 1943. He attended the conferences of allied war leaders in Casablanca, Washington, D.C., Quebec City, Cairo, Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam. He was Deputy Quartermaster General at the War Office between 1943 and 1946[5] and, briefly, General Officer Commanding Aldershot Command from September 1946 to November 1946.[6]
Holmes was invested as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1940,[7] a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1943[8] and a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1946.[9] He was also made a Commander of the US Legion of Merit,[10] an Officer of the French Legion d’Honneur and received the Croix de Guerre.[11]
He married Mary Clifford, daughter of Sir Hugh Clifford, on 19 June 1920 and they had two children. He retired from the British Army in 1946 and died on 24 December 1982.[11]
References
edit- ^ "Maj.Gen Sir Noel Galway Holmes". The Daily Telegraph. 29 December 1982.
- ^ Smart 2005, pp. 156–157.
- ^ "No. 28610". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 May 1912. p. 3687.
- ^ "No. 30111". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 1917. p. 5480.
- ^ Who's Who
- ^ "Army Commands" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
- ^ "No. 34893". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 July 1940. p. 4250.
- ^ "No. 36033". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 June 1943. p. 2419.
- ^ "No. 37407". The London Gazette. 1 January 1946. p. 17.
- ^ "No. 37909". The London Gazette. 18 March 1947. p. 1311.
- ^ a b Who Was Who 1981–1990. A & C Black Ltd, London. 1991. ISBN 0-7136-3336-0.
Bibliography
edit- Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 1844150496.