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Lionel Bond

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Sir Lionel Bond
Born(1884-06-16)16 June 1884
Aldershot, Hampshire, England
Died4 October 1961(1961-10-04) (aged 77)
Surrey, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service / branchBritish Army
Years of service1903–1941
RankLieutenant-General
Service number22542
UnitRoyal Engineers
CommandsMalaya Command (1939–41)
Royal School of Military Engineering (1935–39)
Chatham Area (1935–39)
Battles / warsMohmand Expedition of 1908
First World War
Second World War
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Companion of the Order of the Bath
Mentioned in Despatches (2)[1]
RelationsMajor-General Sir Francis George Bond (father)

Lieutenant-General Sir Lionel Vivian Bond, KBE, CB (16 June 1884 – 4 October 1961) was a senior officer in the British Army.[2]

Military career

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Bond was the son of Major-General Sir Francis George Bond (1856–1930), and elder brother of Major-General Richard Lawrence Bond (1890–1979). After attending the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich,[1] Bond was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers in 1903. He first saw action in military operations in the Mohmand Expedition of 1908. He also fought in Mesopotamia during the First World War.[1]

Bond graduated from the first postwar course at the Staff College, Camberley in 1919. In 1922, he published a literary attack on Captain Liddell Hart's new theories on tank warfare, stigmatising them as "flapdoodle of the most misleading kind".[3]

Bond was appointed Chief Engineer at Aldershot Command in 1934, General Officer Commanding Chatham Area in 1935, and Commandant of School of Military Engineering and Inspector of the Royal Engineers in 1938.[4]

Defence of Singapore

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Bond Terrace, Fort Canning, Singapore

During the Second World War, Bond took over from Major General Sir William Dobbie as General Officer Commanding Malaya in July 1939. Bond was aware that his predecessor had made an assessment on the war situation in Malaya, and was convinced with his findings that the Japanese would attempt to seize Singapore by attacking Malaya from the north through Siam. With only a small number of British force in his command, he knew he could not undertake the defence of the entire Malayan Peninsula. Bond decided on a strategy of close defence of Southern Johore, and the Singapore island.[5]

Bond completed his term of office in Malaya on 29 April 1941. He retired from active military service soon after, and died in 1961.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Smart 2005, p. 36.
  2. ^ a b "Obituary: Lieut.-Gen. Sir Lionel Bond". The Times. 6 October 1961. p. 17.
  3. ^ Lee, Cecil (1994) Sunset of the Raj: fall of Singapore, 1942. Edinburgh: Pentland Press and 'The tactical theories of Captain Liddell Hart (a criticism)' by Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel L V Bond, in The Royal Engineers Journal, written in reply to article by Liddell Hart, entitled 'A study of the new French infantry regulations' in The Royal Engineers Journal, 1922 May – with papers relating to Liddell Hart's reply to criticisms, including proof copy of reply, published as 'Colonel Bond's criticisms (a reply) by Liddell Hart in The Royal Engineers Journal, November 1922, and of 'Captain Liddell Hart and Lieut-Col Bond, a summary and a judgment' by Col John Frederick Charles Fuler in The Royal Engineers Journal, March 1923.
    Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives (ref. no: LIDDEL: 7/1922/9-20 1922–1924)
  4. ^ "Lionel Bond". Generals of World War II. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  5. ^ Kirby, Stanley Woodburn (1971) Singapore: the chain of disaster. London: Cassell.

Bibliography

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Further reading

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Military offices
Preceded by Commandant of the School of Military Engineering
1935–1939
Succeeded by
Preceded by GOC Malaya Command
1939–1941
Succeeded by