Eric Bols

Who was Eric Bols?

Major-General Eric Louis Bols, CB, DSO and Bar was an officer in the British Army, who was most notable for serving as the commanding officer of the British 6th Airborne Division during Operation Varsity in 1945. Born in Surrey in 1904, Bols joined the Army in 1924 and saw service in a number of areas of the British Empire during the inter-war period, including Hong Kong and Shanghai, as well as Malta. He served as a Cadet Instructor at Sandhurst and attended courses at the British Army Staff College on promotion to captain.

When the Second World War began, Bols moved through several staff officer positions, serving in several institutions and Army formations before being promoted to colonel and taking charge of all training for the troops under the command of 21st Army Group and helping to plan Operation Overlord. Bols was then promoted again and commanded a brigade during the Allied advance through Western Europe, before taking command of the 6th Airborne Division in late 1944. He led the division in the Battle of the Bulge, as well as Operation Varsity, the airborne operation to cross the River Rhine, then led the division into northern Germany until the end of the conflict. After the end of the war Bols remained in command of the division in peace-keeping duties in the Middle East, and then retired in 1948 as a major-general.