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{{EngvarB|date=March 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
|name = Sir Harold Williams
|image =
|caption =
|birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1897|06|01}}
|birth_place = [[County Cork]], Ireland
|death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1971|10|17|1897|06|01}}
|death_place = Mussoorie, India
|rank = [[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-General]] (Indian Army)<br>[[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] (United Kingdom)
|serviceyears = 1917–1956
|allegiance = {{UK}} (1917–1956)<br>{{IND}} (1948–1956)
|branch = [[Image:Flag of the British Army.svg|23px]] [[British Army]]
|commands = Engineer-in-Chief, Indian Army
|battles = [[Second World War]]
|awards = [[Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire]], [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]], [[Mentioned in Dispatches]]
}}
[[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-General]] '''Sir Harold Williams''' {{post-nominals|size=100%|KBE|CB}} (1 June 1897 – 17 October 1971) was an Irish-born British Army officer, engineer and mountaineer.
He also became charter president of Rotary club Roorkee in 1959.

==Early life==
Williams was born in [[County Cork]] and educated at Mountjoy School and [[Trinity College, Dublin]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Mehta |first=Soli |year=1971 |title=Obituary: Lt. Gen. Sir Harold Williams |url=https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/31/44/obituary-8/ |newspaper=Himalayan Journal (Vol.31) |location=India |access-date=3 July 2015 }}</ref>

==Military career==
He attended the [[Royal Military Academy, Woolwich]] and commissioned into the [[Royal Engineers]] on 28 September 1917.<ref>'Williams, Sir Harold' in ''[http://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_W01a.html British Army Officers 1939–1945] at unithistories.com. Retrieved 3 July 2015</ref> He was posted to India where he joined the 51st (Field) Company, [[Bengal Sappers and Miners]].<ref>{{cite news |date=1 April 1972 |title=Obituary Lt. General Sir Harold Williams KBE CB |url=http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/content/article/10.1680/iicep.1972.5749 |newspaper=Institution of Civil Engineers Proceedings (Vol.51, Issue 4)|location=London |doi=10.1680/iicep.1972.5749 |access-date=3 July 2015 }}</ref> He served with the unit as part of the Aden Field Force after which he spent three years in [[Roorkee]], first as Company Officer and finally as Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster, Bengal Sappers and Miners. He then took a supplementary engineering course at [[Cambridge University]] before returning to India in 1927. In 1933 he became an instructor at the [[Rashtriya Indian Military College]] and three years later he became a Senior Instructor at Thomason Civil Engineering College (later the [[Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee]]) where he continued until 1938.<ref>{{cite news |last=Mehta |first=Soli |year=1971 |title=Obituary: Lt. Gen. Sir Harold Williams |url=https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/31/44/obituary-8/ |newspaper=Himalayan Journal (Vol.31) |location=India |access-date=3 July 2015 }}</ref>

Shortly after the outbreak of the [[Second World War]], Williams was appointed Commander Royal Engineer, [[1st Armoured Division (United Kingdom)|1st Armoured Division]] and served in the [[Battle of France]].<ref>'Williams, Sir Harold' in ''[http://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_W01a.html British Army Officers 1939–1945] at unithistories.com. Retrieved 3 July 2015</ref> He evaded capture and was evacuated from [[Le Havre]] in 1940. From 1941 to 1942 he was a [[staff officer]]. From 1943 to 1944 he was Chief Engineer, [[IV Corps (United Kingdom)|IV Corps]], serving in Assam and the [[Burma Campaign]] during which he was [[mentioned in dispatches]]. In 1945 he was appointed Commandant at the [[College of Military Engineering, Pune|School of Military Engineering, Roorkee]]. He was invested as a [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] in 1946 and on 15 December 1948 he was promoted to the rank of brigadier.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37598|date=13 June 1946|page=2769|supp=y }}</ref>

===Indian Army===
Following the [[Partition of India]], Williams was retained by the [[Indian Army]] as Engineer-in-Chief to aid in the establishment of India's independent armed forces. During this period he led an Indian Engineer Himalayan expedition up [[Kamet|Mount Kamet]] in June 1952.<ref>{{cite news |date=1 April 1972 |title=Obituary Lt. General Sir Harold Williams KBE CB |url=http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/content/article/10.1680/iicep.1972.5749 |newspaper=Institution of Civil Engineers Proceedings (Vol.51, Issue 4)|location=London |doi=10.1680/iicep.1972.5749 |access-date=3 July 2015 }}</ref> Williams was made a [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]] in 1953.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=39732|date=1 January 1953|page=3|supp=y }}</ref> He retired from the role in 1956 with the rank of lieutenant-general in the Indian Army and major-general in the British Army, and was made a [[Order of the British Empire|KBE]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=40787|date=31 May 1956|page=3107|supp=y }}</ref> From 1951 to 1958 he was Colonel Commandant, [[Indian Engineers]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Mehta |first=Soli |year=1971 |title=Obituary: Lt. Gen. Sir Harold Williams |url=https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/31/44/obituary-8/ |newspaper=Himalayan Journal (Vol.31) |location=India |access-date=3 July 2015 }}</ref>

==Civil engineering work==
From 1962 to 1965 Williams was Engineering Adviser to the [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]], India. Williams was President for a time of the Institute of Engineers, India, a founder member and President of the [[Indian Institute of Surveying & Mapping]], and also President of the Institution of Military Engineers, India.<ref>{{cite news |last=Mehta |first=Soli |year=1971 |title=Obituary: Lt. Gen. Sir Harold Williams |url=https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/31/44/obituary-8/ |newspaper=Himalayan Journal (Vol.31) |location=India |access-date=3 July 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=1 April 1972 |title=Obituary Lt. General Sir Harold Williams KBE CB |url=http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/content/article/10.1680/iicep.1972.5749 |newspaper=Institution of Civil Engineers Proceedings (Vol.51, Issue 4)|location=London |doi=10.1680/iicep.1972.5749 |access-date=3 July 2015 }}</ref>

==Other work==
Williams was a keen ornithologist and wrote a book on birdwatching in India. He was a founder-member of the Federation for the Welfare of Mentally
Retarded Children in India. Williams joined the [[Alpine Club (UK)|Alpine Club]] in 1953 and participated in a number of minor Himalayan expeditions, including [[Trisul]] and [[Bandarpunch]]. He was President of the Himalayan Club from 1960 to 1963.<ref>{{cite news |last=Mehta |first=Soli |year=1971 |title=Obituary: Lt. Gen. Sir Harold Williams |url=https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/31/44/obituary-8/ |newspaper=Himalayan Journal (Vol.31) |location=India |access-date=3 July 2015 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Harold}}
[[Category:1897 births]]
[[Category:1971 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College Dublin]]
[[Category:British Army generals]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:British mountain climbers]]
[[Category:Indian ornithologists]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich]]
[[Category:Indian generals]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:People from County Cork]]
[[Category:Royal Engineers officers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian zoologists]]
[[Category:British emigrants to India]]

Harold Williams (British Army officer) - Revision history

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