Lionel Vivian Bond
Encyclopedia
Lieutenant-General Sir Lionel Vivian Bond, KBE
, CB
(1884–1961) was a senior officer in the British Army
.
in 1903. He first saw action in military operations in Zakka Khel and Mohmand expeditions, India
in 1908. He also fought in Mesopotamia
during World War I
.
In 1922, Bond published a literary attack on Captain Liddell Hart's new theories on tank warfare, stigmatising them as "flapdoodle of the most misleading kind".
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.
as General Officer Commanding
Malaya
on 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. Thus in early 1939, Bond decided on the strategy of close defence of Southern Johore, and the Singapore island.
He completed his term of office in Malaya on 29 April 1941. He retired from active military soon after, and died in 1961.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, CB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
(1884–1961) was a senior officer in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
.
Military career
Born the son of Sir Major-General Francis George Bond (1856–1930), and brother of Major-General Richard Lawrence Bond (1890–1979), Bond was commissioned into the Royal EngineersRoyal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
in 1903. He first saw action in military operations in Zakka Khel and Mohmand expeditions, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
in 1908. He also fought in Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
In 1922, Bond published a literary attack on Captain Liddell Hart's new theories on tank warfare, stigmatising them as "flapdoodle of the most misleading kind".
Bond was appointed Chief Engineer at Aldershot Command
Aldershot Command
-History:After the success of the Chobham Manoeuvres of 1853, a permanent training camp was established at Aldershot in 1854 on the recommendation of the Commander-in-Chief, Viscount Hardinge...
in 1934, General Officer Commanding
General Officer Commanding
General Officer Commanding is the usual title given in the armies of Commonwealth nations to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC II Corps or GOC 7th Armoured Division...
Chatham Area in 1935 and Commandant
Commandant
Commandant is a senior title often given to the officer in charge of a large training establishment or academy. This usage is common in anglophone nations...
of School of Military Engineering
School of Military Engineering
School of Military Engineering may refer to a training institution for military engineering such as:*Royal School of Military Engineering of the British Army*College of Military Engineering, Pune of the Indian Army...
and Inspector of the Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
in 1938.
Defence of Singapore
During World War II, Bond took over Sir William DobbieWilliam Dobbie
Lieutenant-General Sir William George Shedden Dobbie GCMG, KCB, DSO was a British Army veteran of the Second Boer War, and First and Second World Wars.-Early life:...
as General Officer Commanding
General Officer Commanding
General Officer Commanding is the usual title given in the armies of Commonwealth nations to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC II Corps or GOC 7th Armoured Division...
Malaya
Malaya Command
The Malaya Command was a command of British Commonwealth forces formed in the 1920s for the coordination of the defences of Malaya and Singapore.-History:...
on 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. Thus in early 1939, Bond decided on the strategy of close defence of Southern Johore, and the Singapore island.
He completed his term of office in Malaya on 29 April 1941. He retired from active military soon after, and died in 1961.
Quotes
"The United States Fleet is the most powerful factor deterring the activity of an enemy of Britain in the Pacific area."Further reading
- Out-generalled, Outwitted, and Outfought: Generals Percival and Bennett in Malaya, 1941–42 / Lieutenant General John Coates (Retd), Australian Army Journal, Vol II, No. 1 (Winter 2004). pp. 201–214.
- Mackaness, George (ed.) Fresh Light On Bligh: being some unpublished correspondence of Captain William Bligh, R.N., and Lieutenant Francis Godolphin Bond, R.N., with Lieutenant Bond's manuscript notes made on the voyage of H.M.S. Providence, 1791-1795.
- http://cityark.medway.gov.uk/query/results/?Mode=ShowImg&Img=/cityark/Scans/Unofficial_or_Privately_Originated_Collections_1357_1980/DE0402_Couchman_ephemera_and_MSS_/DE0402_14.html/DE402_14_51annexe.jpg|TypescriptLetter from Major General L.V. Bond, Commandant, School of Military Engineering and Commanding Officer, Chatham Area and Depot, Royal Engineers, Area Headquarters, Kitchener Barracks, Dock Road, Chatham to Lieutenant Colonel W. Lawrence Gadd, Rosherville Court, Gravesend, approving request to photograph glacis and moat of Spur Battery, Fort Amherst, Chatham. 9 February] 1938 p. 51 (annexe)]
- Activities of Australian troops before the fall of Singapore. The visit of Senator H.S. Foll, Minister for Information and others to Singapore. The opening of the Anzac Club and general views of the club. Scenes of the Sultan of Selangor, Major-General H. Gordon Bennett, Major-General L.V. Bond, Air Chief Marshal Sir R. Brooke-Popham, the Australian Actress Betty Bryant, Mr J. Williams Acting Director of the Department of Information, Mr T.S. Gurr Associated Newspapers Ltd.(film)
Found in Australian War Memorial (ID No. F01157) - Chapter 7: Operations Mounted By North Western Area 1942 - 1945(pp. 169 – 226), found in Joseph Wilson, David (2003) The Eagle And The Albatross: Australian Aerial Maritime Operations 1921 - 1971. Thesis University College, Defence Force Academy, University of New South Wales, Australia.
- Appreciation by the United Kingdom Chiefs of Staff on the Situation in the Far East, August 1940 — The Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs to the High Commissioner for the United Kingdom (Wellington), found in Documents Relating to New Zealand's Participation in the Second World War 1939–45: Volume III. the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre, Victoria University of Wellington.