Eric Dorman Smith

MajorGeneral Eric Edward DormanSmith , who later changed his name to Eric Edward Dorman OGowan, was an Irish officer in the British Army whose career began in World War I, and later an officer in the Irish Republican Army. 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 by J.F.C. Fuller, Archibald Wavell, Liddell Hart, and others, DormanSmith 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 194041, it was not until May 1942 that he went on active service again. However, his service record in World War II is shrouded in controversy and ended when he was fired from his comma

DormanSmith was born to a mixedreligion couple in Bellamont Forest, Cootehill, County Cavan, Ireland. He was received into the Catholic Church four days after his birth as a result of his Catholic mothers pleading. His younger brothers, Victor and Reggie, were baptized Protestant. His best friend as a child in Cootehill was John Charles McQuaid, the local doctors son, who was later appointed Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin.

Source: Wikipedia