James Cooke-Collis

Major-General Sir William James Norman Cooke-Collis, (7 May 1876 – 14 April 1941) 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 (née Oliphant) 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 (later the Royal Ulster 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 (present-day Batumi) in Transcaucasia. became General Officer Commanding (GOC) the 55th (West Lancashire) Division in 1934. He was invested as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1937.

Family Cooke-Collis married Cléonice Gamble, daughter of Major George Francis Gamble on 30 January 1906.