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{{EngvarB|date=November 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= William Henry Evered Poole
|image= GENERAL POOLE WITH FM SMUTS.jpg
|image_size=
|alt=
|caption= General Poole with Field Marshal [[Jan Smuts]] in June 1944
|honorific_prefix=Maj Gen
|honorific_suffix={{postnominals|country=GBR|CB|CBE|DSO|KStJ}} {{postnominals|country=ZAR|LOM}}
|nickname=
|birth_date= {{birth date|df=yes|1902|10|08}}
|birth_place= [[Caledon, Cape Colony]]
|death_date= {{death date and age|df=yes|1969|03|09|1902|10|08}}
|death_place= [[Bellville, Cape Province]]
|placeofburial=
|allegiance= South Africa
|branch= [[South African Army]]
|serviceyears= 1920{{snd}}1951
|rank= [[Major General]]
|unit=
|commands= {{plainlist|
* [[List of South African military chiefs|Deputy Chief of General Staff]]
* [[6th South African Armoured Division]]
* Cape Fortress
* [[2nd Infantry Brigade (South Africa)|2nd Infantry Brigade]]
* [[South African Army College|South African Military College]]
* [[Special Service Battalion]]
}}
|battles= {{plainlist|
* [[Second World War]]
* [[Second Battle of El Alamein]]
* [[Battle of Monte Cassino]]
}}
|awards= {{plainlist|
* [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]]
* [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]
* [[Distinguished Service Order]]
* [[Mentioned in Despatches]] (2)
* [[Commander of the Legion of Merit]] (United States)
* [[Commander of the Legion of Honour]] (France)
* [[Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)|Croix de Guerre]] (France)
* [[Order of George I|Member of the Royal Order of George I]] (Greece)
}}
|spouse= {{marriage|Elsie Irene van Boescoten|1927|1951|end=divorce}}<br/>{{marriage|Maureen Naish-Gray|1951}}
|relations=
|laterwork= Diplomat
}}
[[Major General]] '''William Henry Evered Poole''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|sep=,|CB|CBE|DSO|KStJ}}, {{postnominals|country=ZAR|LOM}} ({{date|8 October 1902}}{{snd}}{{date|9 March 1969}}) was a senior [[South African Army]] commander during the [[Second World War]] and later a diplomat.

==Early life==
William Henry Evered Poole was born in [[Caledon, Cape Colony]] on 8 October 1902. He was the son of Major William John Evered Poole, previously of the 60th [[King's Royal Rifle Corps]], and Constance van Breda, a member of one of the best-known Cape Colony families, who had married in October the previous year. As the first-born son, he was given Evered as his last name in accordance with age-old Poole tradition.

Poole attended an [[Anglican]] private boys' school, [[St. Andrew's College (Grahamstown, South Africa)|St Andrew's College]] in [[Grahamstown]], from 1911 to 1917 and the [[Diocesan College]], informally known as "Bishops", [[Rondebosch]] in 1918.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Beyers|first1=C.J.|title=Dictionary of South African Biography|volume=V|publisher=Human Sciences Research Council|place=Pretoria|year=1987}}</ref>

In 1927, Poole married Elsie Irene van Boeschoten and had one daughter. After the dissolution of the marriage in 1951, he married Maureen Naish-Gray on 22 October 1951.

==Military career==
===Regimental service and peacetime commands===
In 1920, while a [[Civil Service|public servant]], Poole joined the 9th Infantry Regiment [[Cape Colonial Forces|(Cape Peninsula Rifles)]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.justdone.co.za/SAMU/Info_Units.php?UnitID=102|work=South African Military Units|title=Cape Peninsula Rifles|first=John|last=Dovey|access-date=1 February 2010|archive-date=19 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719073347/http://www.justdone.co.za/SAMU/Info_Units.php?UnitID=102|url-status=dead}}</ref> of the [[Union Defence Force (South Africa)|Active Citizen Force]] as a private.

Poole transferred to the [[Permanent Force]] in 1922. He was placed first on the course for promotion to [[officer (armed forces)|commissioned rank]] on 11 September 1923. He was next posted as a lieutenant to the 3rd Battery, South African Field Artillery and transferred to the South African Permanent Garrison Artillery at Cape Town in March 1925, when he again qualified in the first place on a garrison gunnery course. In 1927, he attended a [[staff (military)|staff duties]] course at the South African Military College at [[Thaba Tshwane|Roberts Heights]] and was attached to the [[South African Army corps and branches|South African staff Corps]] at the college in 1929, again passing out in the first place on a staff duties course of the Permanent Force in 1931. Appointed officer instructor to the [[Transvaal Horse Artillery]] for 1931{{snd}}32, he qualified as a [[captain (land)|captain]] in the Field Artillery at the end of 1931. In June 1932, he was granted the temporary rank of captain as staff officer, 'A' and 'G', in Cape Town and transferred to the staff corps.

Poole was subsequently posted to the [[Special Service Battalion]] as second-in-command with the rank of major. He became the [[Commanding Officer|Officer Commanding]] of the battalion in February 1934. In June 1935, he was granted the temporary rank of [[lieutenant colonel]] and was attached to the British [[Brigade of Guards]] at [[Aldershot]], in London, and at [[Pirbright]] until September 1935. For the rest of the year, he attended the [[Senior Officers' School]] at [[Sheerness]]. He returned to South Africa to resume command of the Special Service Battalion in 1936.

In October 1937, Poole was transferred to the [[South African Army College|South African Military College]]<ref>{{cite journal|url= http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol023ng.html|journal=The South African Military History Society Journal|first=Neville|last=Gomm|title=The South African Army College|issue=3|date=June 1972|volume=2|id=SA}}</ref> and became [[Commanding Officer|Commandant]] of the college on 16 March 1938. Following the Union's entry into the Second World War in September 1939, Poole organised the greatly expanded facilities at the college, including the huge 'B' Mess dining halls seating 500 officer cadets.<ref>{{cite journal|url= http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol095at.html|journal=Military History Journal|publisher=The South African Military History Society |last=Theunissen|first=AB|title=Major-General WH Evered Poole CB CBE DSO: 1902–1969 Personal Retrospects|volume=9|issue= 5|date=June 1994|id=SA}}</ref>

===Second World War===
Poole was appointed General Service Officer Grade 1 (GSO1) of [[1st South African Infantry Division]], with the rank of [[colonel]], on its formation in August 1940. However, when the [[2nd South African Infantry Division]] was formed he became its GSO1 on 1 October 1940.

In April 1941, Poole was promoted to the temporary rank of [[brigadier]]. In June, he was transferred back to the 1st Division as brigadier to take command of the [[2nd South African Infantry Brigade]] in Egypt. He saw active service with the brigade at [[Mersa Matruh]], commanding 'Braforce' under the 2nd Division on the Egyptian frontier later in 1941, and then with the 1st Division on the [[Battle of Gazala|Gazala Line]] from February to May 1942. He returned temporarily to South Africa as officer commanding Cape Fortress until rejoining his brigade at El Alamein in August 1942. There he commanded the brigade in the [[Second Battle of El Alamein]] in October–November 1942. He returned to South Africa as second-in-command of the 1st Division.

Poole assumed command, with the rank of [[major general]], of the [[6th South African Armoured Division]] on its formation in February 1943. He retained command throughout its training in the Middle East and subsequent service in Italy as part of the [[Eighth Army (United Kingdom)|British Eighth Army]]. After the liberation of [[Florence]], the division became part of the [[Fifth United States Army]]. At the end of the war, he became [[General Officer Commanding|General Officer Administration]] of all South African troops in the [[Allied Central Mediterranean Force]] until their [[repatriation]] on 2 March 1946.

During the Second World War, Poole was twice [[mentioned in despatches]], received the [[Distinguished Service Order]], and was invested as a [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]] and as a [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]. He was among the very few South Africans to be invested as a Commander of the United States [[Legion of Merit]], and was invested as a Commander of the French [[Legion of Honour]]. He also received the French [[Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)|Croix de Guerre]].

==Post-war and diplomatic career==
In 1948, Poole was passed over as [[Chief of Staff]] by the newly elected [[National Party (South Africa)|National Party]] government of Dr [[D. F. Malan]] and posted to Berlin to head the South African military mission there. After this he switched to a diplomatic career. He was subsequently appointed [[Diplomatic rank|envoy extraordinary]] and [[Diplomatic rank|minister plenipotentiary]] to Italy, Greece and Egypt, and in 1954 was transferred to Argentina and Chile. In 1960, he became ambassador to Greece.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bunting|first=Brian|title=The Rise of the South African Reich|publisher=Mayibuye Books|date=December 1986|url=https://archive.org/details/riseofsouthafric00bunt|isbn=0-904759-74-1|access-date=2 November 2008|url-status=dead|url-access=registration}}</ref>

As a diplomat, Poole was invested as a [[Venerable Order of St John|Knight of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem]]. Whilst ambassador to Greece, he was decorated with the [[Order of George I|Order of King George I]] in 1964. [[St. Andrew's College (Grahamstown, South Africa)|St Andrew's College]], [[Grahamstown]], annually award the General Evered Poole Cadet Cup to the winning house in the [[House System|inter-house]] [[cadet]] competition.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oldandrean.co.za/uploads/1172152786.doc|title=Old Andrean Newsletter}}{{Dead|date=October 2022}}</ref>

In his last years, Poole suffered from a lung ailment which forced his retirement in 1966. In retirement, he spent half the year at his home in [[Hermanus]], Cape Province, and the other half in Greece, aboard the Poole's yacht ''Estrellita''. He died on 9 March 1969.

==Awards and decorations==

* {{Medal Display|CB}}
* {{Medal Display|CBE}}
* {{Medal Display|DSO}}
* {{Medal Display|KStJ}}
* {{Medal Display|1939-45Star}}
* {{Medal Display|AfricaStar}}
* {{Medal Display|ItalyStar}}
* [[File:War Medal 39-45 w MID BAR.svg|75px]] [[War Medal 1939–1945]] with Mention in Despatches
* {{Medal Display|ASM}}
* {{Medal Display|LOMC}}
* [[File:Legion Honneur Commandeur ribbon.svg|x20px]] [[Legion of Honour|Légion d'honneur]] (Commander – France)
* [[File:GRE Order of George I - Grand Cross BAR.png|65px]] [[Order of George I]] (Greece)
* [[File:Croix de Guerre 1939-1945 ribbon.svg|70px]]<span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -75px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:UK Queen%27s Commendation for Valuable Service device.svg|60px]]</span>[[Croix de guerre 1939-1945 (France)]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{cite web|url=http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol095at.html|title=Personal Retrospects of Major AB Theunissen, MBE (formerly SA Staff Corps)}}
* {{cite web|url=http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol014gb.html|title=Tribute by Lt-Genl Geo. E. Brink, CB, CBE. DSO}}
* {{cite web|url=http://www.generals.dk/general/Poole/William_Henry_Evered/South_Africa.html|title= The Generals of WWII}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef | before = [[Harry Cilliers]]|as= Deputy Chief of Staff}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of South African military chiefs|Deputy Chief of General Staff]]|years=1946{{snd}}1948}}
{{s-aft | after = [[Pieter de Waal]]|as=Director-General Land Forces}}

{{s-bef|before=[[JJC Hamman]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Commandant [[South African Army College|South African Military College]]|years=1938{{snd}}1940}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Jock B Kriegler]]}}

{{s-bef|before=[[Pieter de Waal]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Officer Commanding [[Special Service Battalion]]|years=1934{{snd}}1935}}
{{s-aft|after=J Daniel}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poole, William Henry Evered}}
[[Category:1902 births]]
[[Category:1969 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of South Africa to Chile]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of South Africa to Greece]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Legion of Merit]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of George I]]
[[Category:South African military personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:South African people of British descent]]
[[Category:Western Desert campaign]]
[[Category:White South African people]]

Evered Poole - Revision history

Bot at 23:53, 19 October 2022