Eric Dorman-Smith

Eric Dorman-Smith

Eric Edward ("Chink") Dorman-Smith (24 July 1895 – 11 May 1969), later de-Anglicised to Eric Edward Dorman O'Gowan, was a British Army soldier whose career began with distinguished service in World War I. In the 1920s, he was one of the military thinkers in various countries - c.v. 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 people such as J. F. C. Fuller, Archibald Wavell and Liddell Hart, he 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. His apparently arrogant manner and brusqueness towards people he considered less intelligent than himself made him a number of enemies who would later become highly influential.

Although he made several contributions in advisory roles during the campaigns in the Western Desert in 1940 and 1941, 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 sacked from his command in strange circumstances in 1944. Thereafter, he retired to Ireland.

During the 1950s and 60s, when the Western desert campaigns began to be played out all over again in memoirs, biographies and history books, he maintained loyalty to those people in whom he had placed his trust - especially Sir Claude Auchinleck, whose reputation he was always eager to defend. In view of how short a time he was on active service during World War II, it is noteworthy that he is still regarded as a controversial figure in many histories of the war in Egypt and in the memoirs and biographies of people involved.