Eric Dorman-Smith

Who was Eric Dorman-Smith?

Eric Edward Dorman-Smith, later de-Anglicised to Eric Edward Dorman O'Gowan, was a British Army soldier whose career began with distinguished service in the First World War. In the 1920s, he was one of the military thinkers in various countries - such as Heinz Guderian in Germany and Charles de Gaulle in France - who realised that technology and motorisation were changing the way that wars and battles were fought. Influenced J.F.C. Fuller, Archibald Wavell, Liddell Hart, and others, Dorman-Smith took an active role in trying to change the culture of the British Army and held a number of teaching and training roles in various parts of the British Empire. Although he made several contributions in advisory roles during the campaigns in the Western Desert in 1940-41, it was not until May 1942 that he went on active service again. However, his service record in the Second World War is shrouded in controversy and ended when he was sacked from his command under strange circumstances in 1944, and retired to Ireland.