William Dobbie

Lieutenant-General Sir William George Shedden Dobbie, GCMG, KCB, DSO, GCStJ (12 July 1879 – 3 October 1964) was a British Army officer who served in the Second Boer War and the First and Second World Wars.

William was born in Madras to a civil servant father, W. H. Dobbie of the Indian Civil Service – and to a family with a long military lineage. When he was only nine months old, his parents left him in the care of relatives in England, so that he might receive an education in keeping with his family's station. At thirteen, young William won a scholarship to Charterhouse School and became a top-ranking classical scholar and a keen student of ancient military campaigns. Upon graduation, he proved to be qualified for a military career at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, from which, in due course, he went to the Royal School of Military Engineering at Chatham. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on 6 August 1899.

Dobbie joined the Second Boer War shortly after the funeral of Queen Victoria in February 1901, and was promoted to lieutenant while in South Africa, on 1 April 1902. He was wounded, and returned to the United Kingdom shortly after the end of hostilities, arriving in Southampton in July 1902. He later opined that the Second Boer War was a rather unjust war. Following his return he was stationed at Chatham in late 1902, and was promoted to captain on 6 August 1908. He attended the Staff College, Camberley, from 1911 to 1912.

Dobbie was appointed a Knight of the Legion of Honour in November 1914 and appointed a GSO 3rd Grade on 1 April 1915. and in July a GSO2, taking over from Brevet Lieutenant Colonel G. F. Boyd. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order on 14 January 1916, promoted to major on 1 April 1916, promoted to temporary lieutenant colonel on 19 August 1916 (retroactive from 6 July 1915 on 1 January 1920) and brevetted to lieutenant colonel on 1 January 1917. During the First World War, Dobbie happened to have been the staff officer on duty in November 1918 and his is the only signature on the cease-fire telegram that was sent to all troops. In later years, when asked what he did during the war, Dobbie would reply "I stopped the bloody thing!".^{[citation needed]} After the war Dobbie was appointed an Officer of the Order of Leopold on 21 August 1919.

Dobbie was graded a temporary lieutenant colonel on 18 April 1920 and brevetted to colonel on 1 July 1922. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 1 January 1925 and to colonel on 18 January 1926. On 29 June 1928, he was appointed commander of the Cairo Brigade with the rank of brigadier, then considered a temporary rank. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1930 New Year Honours List. He reverted to his permanent rank of colonel and ceased to be employed from 15 July 1932, being placed on half-pay. On 18 February 1933, he was promoted to major general and appointed Commandant of the School of Military Engineers. He was appointed General Officer Commanding Malaya Command on 8 November 1935, holding the post to 1939.

Dobbie, then holding the rank of major general, was informed that after Malaya he would be retired, because new War Office regulations deemed him too old for a further position. After war was declared in September, he was frustrated in his attempts to return to active service, until in April 1940, shortly after succeeding Lieutenant General Sir Aylmer Hunter-Weston as colonel commandant of the Royal Engineers, he encountered the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Sir Edmund Ironside, who offered him the position of Governor of Malta and commander-in-chief of Malta. As acting Governor, he was granted the acting rank of lieutenant-general on 27 April 1940, and was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 14 March 1941. Promoted to temporary lieutenant general on 27 April, he was confirmed as Governor of Malta on 19 May. He remained Governor of Malta until May 1942, and retired with the honorary rank of lieutenant-general on 10 November 1942.

When he arrived on Malta, its defensibility was in question because of the presumed ease with which Italy could overrun it. There were only 4 planes on the island and these had probably been overlooked. Few other than Churchill saw any strategic value in maintaining it and the commitment of the Maltese to the British cause was also questioned.

On the day Italy declared war Dobbie issued a statement to the garrison: