Background
Bols was born in Cape Town and educated at Lancing College in England.
military officer Chief Administrator
Bols was born in Cape Town and educated at Lancing College in England.
From June 1919 – June 1920 he served as the Chief Administrator of Palestine, and signed over power to Herbert Samuel, the first British High Commissioner of Palestine, in an often-quoted document: "Received from Major-General Sir Louis J. Bols Knight Commander of the Bath—One Palestine, complete." He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Devonshire Regiment on 5 February 1887, and was promoted to lieutenant on 22 September 1889. In 1895 he served with the Chitral Relief Force under Sir Robert Low as adjutant and quartermaster at the British Military Depot. Promotion to captain followed on 18 January 1897, and he served as adjutant of the 2nd Battalion of his regiment from 17 February 1899.
Following the outbreak of the Second Boer War in late 1899, his battalion was sent to South Africa, where he served as adjutant of the battalion throughout the war.
He was present at the battles of Colenso (15 December 1899), Vaal Krantz (5–7 February 1900), Tugela Heights and Pieter´s Hill (14–27 February 1900) and the Relief of Ladysmith (1 March 1900), and later in operations in the Transvaal and Orange River Colony. After peace was declared in May 1902, Bols left South Africa on board the Steamship Bavarian and arrived in the United Kingdom the following month.