Bot at 10:58, 15 November 2022

2022-11-15T10:58:08Z

New page

{{Short description|British army officer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Joe Vandeleur
|image= Brigadier Joe Vandeleur.jpg
|image_size=
|alt=
|caption= Brigadier Joe Vandeleur during [[World War II]]
|nickname=
|birth_date= 14 November 1903
|birth_place= [[Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Nowshera]], [[British Raj]] (now [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]], [[Pakistan]])
|death_date= {{death date and age|df=yes|1988|8|4|1903|11|14}}
|death_place= [[Maidenhead]], [[Berkshire]], England
|placeofburial= [[Brookwood Cemetery]]
|allegiance= United Kingdom
|branch= [[British Army]]
|serviceyears= 1924-1951
|rank= [[Brigadier]]
|servicenumber= 28140
|unit= [[Irish Guards]]
|commands= 3rd Battalion, [[Irish Guards]]<br>[[British 129th Infantry Brigade|129th Infantry Brigade]]<br>[[British 32nd Infantry Brigade (Guards)|32nd Guards Brigade]]
|battles= [[World War II]]
|awards=[[Distinguished Service Order]] and Bar
|relations=
|laterwork=
}}

'''John Ormsby Evelyn Vandeleur''', [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]] and Bar (14 November 1903 – 4 August 1988), usually known as '''Joe Vandeleur''' from his initials,<ref>Biography, ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]''</ref> was an Anglo-Irish [[British Army]] officer who served in the [[Second World War]].

==Early life==
Born in [[Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Nowshera]] in [[British Raj|British India]] (now [[Pakistan]]), Vandeleur was the son of Colonel Crofton Bury Vandeleur and Evelyn O'Leary. His family was originally from [[Kilrush]], [[County Clare]], where they were the local landlords.<ref name=unit>{{cite web |title=Vandeleur, John Ormsby Evelyn 'Joe' |url=http://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_V01.html#Vandeleur_JOE |website=unithistories.com |access-date=4 February 2020}}</ref>

==Military career==
[[File:Vandeleur Grave Brookwood Cemetery 2019.jpg|thumb|right|Vandeleur's grave in [[Brookwood Cemetery]] in 2019]]
He was commissioned into the [[Irish Guards]] as a second lieutenant in 1924, serving in [[Sudan]] and [[Egypt]] before the war.<ref name=unit/>

As [[commanding officer]] of the 3rd Battalion, Irish Guards,<ref name=unit/> he led the breakout of [[XXX Corps (United Kingdom)|XXX Corps]] during [[Operation Market Garden]]. His second cousin Lieutenant-Colonel [[Giles Vandeleur]] (their grandfathers were brothers) was acting commanding officer of the 2nd Armoured Battalion, Irish Guards.<ref name="Record">{{cite web |title=Vandeleur, Giles Alexander Meysey |url=http://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_V01.html#Vandeleur_ |website=unithistories.com |access-date=4 February 2020}}</ref> He went on to command the [[British 129th Infantry Brigade|129th Infantry Brigade]] and [[British 32nd Infantry Brigade (Guards)|32nd Guards Brigade]].<ref name=unit/> He retired from the Army in 1951.<ref name=unit/>

==After military service==
Vandeleur acted as a military consultant to the production of the 1977 feature film ''[[A Bridge Too Far (1977 film)|A Bridge Too Far]]''. [[Michael Caine]] played Vandeleur and [[Michael Byrne (actor)|Michael Byrne]] played [[Giles Vandeleur]].<ref>{{cite web |title=A Bridge Too Far |url=https://www.allmovie.com/work/7107 |website=AllMovie.com}}</ref>

His memoirs ''A Soldier's Story'' were privately printed by [[Gale & Polden]] in 1967.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Soldier's Story |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9sIIAQAAMAAJ |via=Google Books| last1=Vandeleur | first1=J. O. E. | year=1967 }}</ref>

==Later life and death==
He married Felicity Bury-Barry, who died in 1948.<ref name=clare>{{cite web |title=Brigadier John Ormsby Evelyn (JOE) Vandeleur |url=http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/history/Clare_Emergency_Where_From.pdf |publisher=Clare County Library |access-date=21 May 2020}}</ref> He later married Norah Christie-Miller (who was a Vandeleur cousin on her mother's side).<ref name=clare/>

After the war, Vandeleur resided in a [[manor house]] in [[Pinkneys Green]], near [[Maidenhead]] in [[Berkshire]].<ref name=clare/>

He died in Maidenhead in 1988 and was buried in [[Brookwood Cemetery]].<ref name=unit/> His grave is marked by a simple headstone inscribed only "J.O.E. V. 1903 – 1988" and underneath "Once an Irish Guardsman".<ref name=clare/>

==See also==
*[[Joe's Bridge]], the nickname given to Bridge No.9 on the [[Meuse River|Maas]]–[[Scheldt]] Canal in the Belgian city of [[Lommel]] just south of the Belgian–Dutch border.

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

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |last=Doherty |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Doherty |title=Ireland's Generals in the Second World War |publisher=Four Courts Press |year=2004 |isbn=9781851828654}}

==External links==
*[https://generals.dk/general/Vandeleur/John_Ormsby_Evelyn/Great_Britain.html Generals of World War II]
*[http://www.irish-guards.co.uk/neerpelt.htm Irish Guards site]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/83/a4544183.shtml WW2 – A Peoples War]
<BR>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vandeleur, Joe}}
[[Category:Irish Guards officers]]
[[Category:British Army brigadiers of World War II]]
[[Category:1903 births]]
[[Category:1988 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Nowshera District]]
[[Category:Burials at Brookwood Cemetery]]
[[Category:Sudan Defence Force officers]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:Military personnel of British India]]
{{UK-army-bio-stub}}

Joe Vandeleur - Revision history

Bot at 10:58, 15 November 2022