Robert Pollok (British Army officer)

Major-General Robert Valentine Pollok CB CBE DSO (1884–1979) was an Irish-born British Army officer who became General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland District.

Robert Pollok
Nickname(s)	"Val"[1]
Born	1884 Ballinasloe, County Galway, Ireland
Died	1979 (aged 94–95)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Years of service	1903–1941
Rank	Major-General
Service number	6066
Unit	15th The King's Hussars Irish Guards
Commands	1st Battalion, Irish Guards 1st Guards Brigade Senior Officers' School, Sheerness Northern Ireland District 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division
Battles / wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order Mentioned in dispatches (4)

Military career

Brigadier General Granville Ryrie in the Gallipoli Peninsula, March 1915. Stood furthest on the right is Captain Robert Valentine Pollok.

After attending Eton and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Pollok was commissioned into the 15th Hussars in 1903.^[2] He was appointed Aide-de-Camp to the Lieutenant Governor of United Provinces in India in 1908 and Aide-de-Camp to the Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Australia in 1913.^[2]

He served in World War I with the Australian Forces in Gallipoli and then transferred to the Irish Guards in 1916.^[2] He became Commanding Officer of 1st Bn Irish Guards in 1917, receiving a promotion to acting lieutenant colonel in the process.^[3]

After the War he attended the Staff College, Camberley from 1920–1921, was appointed Brigade Major for the 1st Guards Brigade at Aldershot Command and then, in 1926, he was re-appointed Commanding Officer of 1st Bn Irish Guards.^[2] He was made Commander of the 1st Guards Brigade at Aldershot Command in 1931 and Commandant of the Senior Officer School at Sheerness in 1935.^[2]

He was appointed General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland District in 1938^[4] and GOC 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division in July 1940.^[2] He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in July 1940^[5] and retired in 1941.^[2]