Dobbie, William

Dobbie, William (1879–1964) British military governor of besieged Malta Lieutenant General Sir William Dobbie was military governor of Malta. A profoundly religious man raised in the church of the Protestant Plymouth Brethren, he took what many considered a religious approach to leadership and has been criticized for his failure to attend to such practical matters as building adequate bomb shelters, laying up sufficient stores, and instituting effective civil defense and food rationing programs, all of which were badly needed during the siege of Malta. Dobbie had served in the Boer War and in World War I. Between the two world wars, he was commandant of the British School of Military Engineering.