James Cooke-Collis
Sir William James Norman Cooke-Collis, was a senior British Army officer who served as General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland District from 1935 to 1938.
Military career
Cooke-Collis was born on 7 May 1876 in Castle Cooke, Kilworth, County Cork to Lieutenant Colonel William Cooke-Collis and Catherine Maria Cooke-Collis and was educated at Cheltenham College. He was first commissioned into a militia battalion of the King's Royal Rifle Corps, transferring to the regular army with appointment as second lieutenant in the Royal Irish Rifles on 24 February 1900. He served with Mounted infantry in the Second Boer War from 1900 to 1902, and was wounded in the attack on Dewetsdorp in November 1900. For his service in the war, he was mentioned in despatches and received the Queen's South Africa Medal with three clasps. Following the end of the war in June 1902, he left South Africa on the SS Kinfauns Castle in October 1902. He was promoted to lieutenant on 10 December 1902.Cooke-Collis later served in the First World War. After the war he was appointed Military Governor at Batoum in Transcaucasia. He became commander of the 11th Infantry Brigade in 1927 and, after serving on half-pay in November 1931, became General Officer Commanding the 55th Division in 1934. He was the appointed GOC Northern Ireland District in 1935. He was responsible for ensuring that the Royal Ulster Rifles had its depot in Ballymena, its own recruiting ground, rather than in Belfast. He was invested as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1937. He retired in 1938 and died on 14 April 1941, aged 64.