Born in
Nottingham, in 1916 Ellis was commissioned into the
Welsh Guards from the
Inns of Court Officers' Training Corps and saw service in the
First World War. Ellis was awarded a
Military Cross, the citation for which reads: In 1919 he was awarded the
Distinguished Service Order for gallantry and devotion to duty, in the advance south of
Bavai in the days before the
Armistice of 11 November 1918. The medal's citation reads: He returned to civilian life and became the first General Secretary of the new
National Council of Social Service, a position he held from 1919 to 1937, then the first Secretary of the new National Fitness Council, 1937 to 1939, working with
Lord Aberdare, the first chairman. In the
1930 Birthday Honours, Ellis was appointed a Commander of the
Order of the British Empire "for services in connection with the Coalfields Distress Fund" and in 1937 a Commander of the
Royal Victorian Order. On 18 September 1939, shortly after the beginning of the
Second World War, Ellis returned to the Welsh Guards and was later appointed as an official historian, contributing three volumes to the
History of the Second World War. After the war, he was an Associate Warden of
Toynbee Hall. His
The War in France and Flanders (1954) begins with the
Phoney War of 1939–1940 and deals with the failed attempts of the
British Expeditionary Force to defend Belgium and France from the German invasion of May and June 1940. It ends with the confusion of the Belgian surrender, the British failure to defend the Somme and the decision to evacuate British forces from Dunkirk. His later volumes dealt with the
Normandy Campaign and the defeat of Germany. ==Private life==