William Dobbie

Sir William Dobbie
Lieutenant General Sir William Dobbie, May 1942.
Born	(1879-07-12)12 July 1879 Madras, British India
Died	3 October 1964(1964-10-03) (aged 85) Kensington, London
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1899–1942
Rank	Lieutenant General
Unit	Royal Engineers
Commands held	Royal School of Military Engineering Malaya Command Governor of Malta
Battles/wars	Second Boer War First World War Second World War
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order

Lieutenant General Sir William George Shedden Dobbie, GCMG, KCB, DSO (12 July 1879 – 3 October 1964) was a British Army veteran of 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.