General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

Sir John Antony Jervis Read, (10 September 1913 – 22 September 2000) was a senior

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

officer who served as Quartermaster-General to the Forces from 1969 to 1973. He was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

(MC) for gallantry during the campaign against the

Italian Army "The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law" , colors = , colors_labels = , march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the histori ...

in 1941 and the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typi ...

(DSO) for his leadership and gallantry whilst in command of 1 Gambia Regiment in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

in March 1945, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Military career

Born on 10 September 1913 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, and educated at Sandroyd School and

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

, Read attended the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry ...

, from where he was commissioned into the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry of the

on 1 February 1934.Obituary: General Sir Anthony Read
Daily Telegraph, 27 September 2000 He was seconded to the Gold Coast Regiment, part of the

Royal West African Frontier Force The West African Frontier Force (WAFF) was a multi-battalion field force, formed by the British Colonial Office in 1900 to garrison the West African colonies of Nigeria, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone and Gambia. In 1928, it received royal recognit ...

, in 1936. He saw active service in the

and was awarded the

(MC) during the campaign against the Italians in

in 1941. He became

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latit ...

(CO) of the Reconnaissance Regiment of the

81st (West Africa) Division The 81st (West African) Division was formed under British control during the Second World War. It took part in the Burma Campaign. History The inspiration for the division's formation came from General George Giffard, commander of the Britis ...

in 1943. In 1944 he took command of 1 Gambia Regiment that was deployed to the Arakan in Burma: he was awarded the

(DSO) for his service in Burma in March 1945. Read became Deputy Assistant Military Secretary at the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence (MoD ...

in 1947 and a Company commander at the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

in 1949. He served as Assistant

Adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

and Quartermaster General at 11 Armoured Division from 1953. Read became Commanding Officer of the 1st Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry at

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a populat ...

in 1955. The Regiment then deployed to

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

for a tour from 1956 to 1959. In 1957 Read was promoted to

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

and took over command of

3rd Infantry Brigade The 3rd Infantry Brigade was a Regular Army infantry brigade of the British Army, part of the 1st Infantry Division. Originally formed in 1809, during the Peninsular War, the brigade had a long history, seeing action in the Second Anglo-Afg ...

in Cyprus. In 1959 he was appointed Commandant of the School of Infantry at

Warminster Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-century Minster Church of S ...

and in 1962 he became General Officer Commanding 50th (Northumbrian) Division/District of the Territorial Army. In 1964 he was appointed Vice- Quartermaster General at the Ministry of Defence and in 1966 he became General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Command. Read was appointed Quartermaster General in 1969 and served to 1973. He was Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies in 1973. Read was Colonel Commandant of the Light Division from 1968 to 1973.''Who Was Who'' Volume X 1996–2000 (2001) He was also ADC General to the Queen from 1971 to 1973. Read was appointed a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a care ...

in 1965, a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1967 and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in 1972. He was also awarded an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1957 and a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in 1959.

Retirement

Read was Governor of the

Royal Hospital Chelsea The Royal Hospital Chelsea is a retirement home and nursing home for some 300 veterans of the British Army. Founded as an almshouse, the ancient sense of the word "hospital", it is a site located on Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea. It is an ...

from 1975 to 1981. He lived in

Caversfield Caversfield is a village and civil parish about north of the centre of Bicester. In 1844 Caversfield became part of Oxfordshire, but until then it was always an exclave of Buckinghamshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as ...

, near Bicester in Oxfordshire where Oxfordshire (RGJ) Battalion Army Cadet Force located and named their Cadet Training Center 'Read House' in his honour. Read married Sheila Morris in 1947 with whom he was to have three daughters. Read died on 22 September 2000.

References

External links

* , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Read, Antony 1913 births 2000 deaths British military personnel of the Cyprus Emergency British Army generals British Army personnel of World War II Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry officers People educated at Sandroyd School People educated at Winchester College Recipients of the Military Cross Royal West African Frontier Force officers Military history of the Gambia Academics of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Military personnel from London