Allegiance United Kingdom Rank Major-general Service/branch British Army | Name Eric Girdwood Years of service 1899-1935 | |
Born 14 October 1876
Strandtown, Belfast, Ireland ( 1876-10-14 ) Commands held 156th Infantry Brigade
74th (Yeomanry) Division
9th Infantry Brigade
3rd Division
Iraq
Bombay
RMC Sandhurst
Northern Ireland District Battles/wars World War I
World War II Died May 24, 1963, Towcester, United Kingdom Awards Order of the British Empire, Order of the Bath, Order of St Michael and St George | ||
Battles and wars World War I, World War II | ||
Major General Sir Eric Stanley Girdwood, KBE, CB, CMG (1876–1963) was a British military officer who served as General Officer Commanding the Northern Ireland District from 1931 to 1935.
Military career
Educated at the Belfast Royal Academy, Girdwood was commissioned into the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) as a second lieutenant on 20 May 1899. He served in the Second Boer War in South Africa with the 2nd battalion of his regiment. They took part in the Ladysmith relief force, including the battles of Colenso (December 1899), Vaal Krantz (February 1900) and the Tugela Heights (February 1900). During this advance, he was promoted to lieutenant on 25 January 1900. He served in the Natal from March to June 1900. Following the end of the war, he left South Africa for England in July 1902.
He also served in World War I, having been appointed a Brigade Major with the Scottish Rifles Brigade in 1911. He fought with his regiment at Gallipoli, becoming Commander of the 156th (Scottish Rifles) Brigade in Egypt and Palestine in 1916. He was made General Officer Commanding 74th (Yeomanry) Division in Palestine and France later that year.
After the War he was appointed Commander 9th Infantry Brigade and then GOC 3rd Division in 1919. He was made Commander of Military Forces in Iraq in 1924 and GOC Bombay District of India in 1926. He was appointed Commandant of the Royal Military College Sandhurst in 1927 and GOC Northern Ireland District in 1931; he retired in 1935.