Eric Dorman-Smith
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Eric Edward Dorman-Smith (1895 – 1969), later de-Anglicised to Eric Edward Dorman O'Gowan, was a was a British Army soldier who served in World War II.
He was born in Bellamont Forest, Cootehill, County Cavan, Ireland. Nicknamed "Chink", he became Commandant of the Middle East Staff College and by December 1940 was sent as an adviser to Major-General Richard O'Connor and the Western Desert Force. Dorman-Smith is sometimes credited with planning Operation Compass and with the discovery of a gap in the Italian lines south of Sidi Barrani.
Until August 6, 1942, when they were sacked , Dorman-Smith, a full colonel but holding the acting rank of major-general, served as chief of staff to Sir Claude Auchinleck, Commander-in-Chief Middle East and later Field-Marshal . Dorman-Smith never held any important military positions after this date. To compound his misfortune, Dorman-Smith was later appointed to serve under Neil Ritchie, a man he had heavily criticised during his time in Egypt. He was removed from this post and was unemployed for six months before being given a brigade to command in Italy. He was sacked again after his battalion commanders complained about his leadership. His divisional superior declared him 'unfit for brigade command'.
Dorman-Smith was an unorthodox commander and has attracted contrasting opinions. To some, such as Basil Liddell Hart, he was "...the outstanding soldier of his generation". To others, such as Field Marshal Lord Carver and Alanbrooke, he was a "sinister influence" and the major cause of Auchinleck's dismissal. Montgomery called him "a menace".
Following his sacking, Dorman-Smith fell out with the military establishment, became disillusioned with Britain and in 1949 adopted the Irish name "O'Gowan", later becoming an IRA sympathiser.
He was a godfather to one of Ernest Hemingway's sons and was a close friend of the author; he is widely believed to be one of the models for Colonel Richard Cantwell, the hero of Hemingway’s novel Across the River and Into the Trees. Dorman-Smith died in Ulster, Ireland in 1969.
Dorman-Smith's youngest brother, Reginald Dorman-Smith, was Governor of Burma at the time of the Japanese invasion during the Second World War.
[edit] References
- Smart, Nick. Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of The Second World War, Pen & Sword. ISBN 1-84415-049-6
- Greacen, Lavinia, Chink: a biography, by (Macmillan, 1990). ISBN 0-333-45395-6
