Author: Ryder, Rowland,
Title: OLIVER LEESE.
Description: Hamish Hamilton, London, 1987, 1st edn., xii, 308pp, 8pp half tone photo ills., 5 in text maps, brown cloth lettered in gilt at spine, photo pictorial dustwrapper, a biography of a career soldier who, on leaving Eton he joined the army in September 1914 and was commissioned in the Coldstream Guards in May 1915, was awarded the DSO at the Battle of the Somme in 1916 at the age of 22, in 1919 he agreed to make the army his career and was appointed adjutant of 3rd Battalion. Between the wars he held a number of staff posts and attended the staff college at Camberley for two years and was promoted Liet. Colonel in 1936. In 1938 he was posted to India as GSO1 instructor at the Staff College, Quetta. Returning in 1940 he joined Lord Gort's staff with the BEF and was evacuated from Dunkirk. Appointed to form and train 29th Guards Infantry Brigade in June 1941 he was given command of the Guards Armoured Division. In 1942 he assumed command of the 8th Army's XXX Corps in North Africa. After the invasion of Sicily and Italy he took over command of the 8th Army from Montgomery in time for the fourth and final battle of Monte Cassino for which he was knighted in the field. He subsequently served as CinC Allied Land Forces South-East Asia where he was less successful and he retired from the army in 1947, lightly rubbed at tips, edges yanned, four line ink nams/address to both paste-downs, dustwrapper: lightly rubbed at tips, spine sunned, very good in a very good dustwrapper,

Keywords: war ww1 ww2 army biography somme dso brigade major south africa camberley staff college quetta guards armoued division north africa italy cassino south-east asia slim


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