Major-General Sir Oliver Stewart Wood Nugent KCB DSO (1860–1929) was a 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...

 officer known for his command of the 36th (Ulster) Division during the First World War and particularly at the battle of the Somme.

Nugent was educated at Harrow and Sandhurst before joining the Royal Munster Fusiliers

Royal Munster Fusiliers

The Royal Munster Fusiliers was a regular infantry regiment of the British Army. One of eight Irish regiments raised largely in Ireland, it had its home depot in Tralee. It was originally formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of two regiments of the former East India Company. It served in India and...

 in July 1882. Transferring in April 1883 to the King's Royal Rifle Corps

King's Royal Rifle Corps

The King's Royal Rifle Corps was a British Army infantry regiment, originally raised in colonial North America as the Royal Americans, and recruited from American colonists. Later ranked as the 60th Regiment of Foot, the regiment served for more than 200 years throughout the British Empire...

, he served in the , Hazara, Miranzai and Chitral

Chitral Expedition

The Chitral Expedition was a military expedition in 1895 sent by the British authorities to relieve the fort at Chitral which was under siege after a local coup.-Background to the conflict:Chitral was at the extreme north west of British India...

 expeditions. After promotion to major he served in the Second Boer War

Second Boer War

The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...

 where he was wounded and taken prisoner at the battle of Talana Hill

Battle of Talana Hill

The Battle of Talana Hill, also known as the Battle of Glencoe, was the first major clash of the Second Boer War. A frontal attack by British infantry supported by artillery drove Boers from a hilltop position, but the British suffered heavy casualties in the process, including their commanding...

. The First World War saw him serving in England until 1915 when he was appointed to command the 41st Infantry Brigade (part of the 14th (Light) Division) on the Western Front

Western Front (World War I)

Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...

. In September 1915 he was appointed to command the 36th (Ulster) Division with which he served until 1918.
Nugent devised the strategy that led to the Ulster Division going 'over the top' twenty minutes before Zero Hour. This allowed his soldiers to get the advantage and capture the main objective of the Schwaben Redoubt

Schwaben Redoubt

The Schwaben Redoubt lies between the Thiepval Memorial and the Ulster tower. It was a German strongpoint on the western front in the First World War. Consisting of a mass of gun emplacements, trenches and tunnels, this warren of defensive works helped anchor the German line on the Somme until late...

. However along the rest of the line, the attack faltered and this caused the 36th Division to withdraw.