General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Sir Geoffry Allen Percival Scoones, (also spelt Geoffrey; 25 January 1893 – 19 September 1975) was a senior officer in the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Early life and education

Scoones was born in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

, British India, the eldest son of Fitzmaurice Thomas Favre Scoones of the

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many war ...

and his wife, Florence Osborne, who was born in New South Wales, Australia. His younger brother was Sir Reginald "Cully" Scoones. In 1901 Scoones, with his father, his mother, and his brothers Thomas, Valentine (who would die aged 20 on 18 August 1916, as a Second-Lieutenant, acting Captain, in the 3rd Battalion of the

Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

), and Reginald, lived in the parish of Heston, in

Hounslow Hounslow ( ) is a large suburban district of West London, England, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 14 metropolitan cen ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, England, at The Hermitage, Sutton Lane. His father was posted to the

Bermuda Garrison The Bermuda Garrison was the military establishment maintained on the British Overseas Territory and Imperial fortress of Bermuda by the regular British Army and its local-service militia and voluntary reserves from 1701 to 1957. The garrison ev ...

with the 3rd Battalion the Royal Fusiliers, arriving aboard the troopship ''Dominion'' at the start of December 1903, along with Major CJ Stanton, Lieutenant F Moore, and Second-Lieutenant George Ernest Hawes of the same battalion (the remainder of the battalion of sixteen officers, one warrant officer, and 937 non-commissioned officers and other ranks under Lieutenant-Colonel Gaisford, arrived separately on the troopship HMT ''Dunera'' from Egypt). The battalion was first posted to Boaz Island. His father was subsequently appointed Camp Commandant,

Warwick Camp 'Warwick Camp' was originally the rifle ranges and a training area used by units of the Bermuda Garrison based elsewhere in the colony. Today, the Camp is the home of the Royal Bermuda Regiment. Early history The base was located on a strip of ...

. A detachment of 112 men of the 3rd Battalion under Major Scoones departed from the Royal Naval Dockyard,

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

aboard the troopship ''Kensington'' on 13 October 1905, for

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

, along with the 3rd Battalion of the King's Royal Rifle Corps, 3rd Company Royal Engineers, a detachment of 36 Company Royal Engineers, and various time-served and other personnel. Scoones was educated at

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: New Zealand * Wellington College, Wellington, New Zealand * Wellington College of Education, now the Faculty of Education of Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand * Wellington Girls' College, Wellington, N ...

and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

Military career

First World War and inter-war period

Scoones was commissioned a second lieutenant on the unattached list for the Indian Army on 20 January 1912. He was accepted into the Indian Army and appointed to the 2nd Battalion 2nd (King Edward VII's Own) Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) on 8 March 1913. He was promoted to lieutenant on 20 April 1914. He saw active service in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, becoming aide-de-camp to the Commander of Meerut Division, then aide-de-camp to the commander 21st Division and finally aide-de-camp to the Army Corps Commander, 2nd Army Corps in France, between 8 September 1915 and 10 July 1917.Quarterly Army List for quarter ending 31 March 1922 Promoted to captain on 20 January 1916, he became a brigade major in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

on 27 October 1917.Indian Army List Supplement 1941 He was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

three times and awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

and the

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

. After the war, Scoones saw service during the Afghanistan North West Frontier operations in 1919. After attending the

Staff College, Quetta The Command and Staff College Quetta is a staff college for the Pakistan Armed Forces and military officers from allied countries. Established in 1905 as Staff College, Deolali, it was later shifted to its present location in 1907 and has been a ...

from 1922 to 1923, he served as a brigade major in India from 3 March 1924 to 30 November 1926 and then became a general staff officer. Promoted to brevet major on 7 January 1925, he transferred to the 1st Battalion 2nd Gurkha Rifles on 22 January 1928 He was promoted to major on 20 January 1929, and to brevet lieutenant colonel on 1 January 1933. After attending the

Imperial Defence College The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...

, from 14 February 1935 to 23 April 1938 he was made

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, 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 give ...

of the 2nd Battalion the

8th Gurkha Rifles The 8th Gorkha Rifles is a Gorkha regiment of the Indian Army. It was raised in 1824 as part of the British East India Company and later transferred to the British Indian Army after the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The regiment served in World War I ...

. Sir Geoffry Allen Percival Scoones
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives He was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

for earthquake work at

Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...

in 1935.

Second World War

Scoones served in the

initially as a general staff officer on the Directorate of Military Operations and Intelligence. On 17 May 1940 he was appointed deputy director of military operations, India. The following year, he became director of military operations and intelligence, India. In 1942, Scoones briefly commanded the Indian 19th Infantry Division before being promoted to lieutenant-general and appointed to command

IV Corps 4 Corps, 4th Corps, Fourth Corps, or IV Corps may refer to: France * 4th Army Corps (France) * IV Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * IV Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperi ...

, part of William Slim's Fourteenth Army. This corps defended

Imphal Imphal (; , ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (officially known as Kangla Fort), the royal seat of the former Kingdom of Manipur, surrounded by a ...

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

, on the frontier between

and Japanese-held

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

. It also had responsibility for a large rearguard area, and a very large tract of unmapped and trackless jungle-covered frontier. He was appointed a

Companion of the Order of the Star of India The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes: # Knight Grand Commander (GCSI) # Knight Commander ( KCSI) # Companion ( CSI) No appointments ...

in 1942. Scoones commanded the corps through the gruelling

Battle of Imphal The Battle of Imphal () took place in the region around the city of Imphal, the capital of the state of Manipur in Northeast India from March until July 1944. Empire of Japan, Japanese armies attempted to destroy the Allied forces at Imphal and ...

. In December 1944 he and his fellow corps commanders

Stopford Stopford is a surname, and may refer to: * Charles Stopford * Alice Stopford Green (1847-1929), Irish historian and nationalist * Edward Stopford * Frederick Stopford, British general at Gallipoli * James Stopford, 1st Earl of Courtown * James St ...

and Christison were knighted and invested as

Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

by the viceroy

Lord Wavell Field Marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, (5 May 1883 – 24 May 1950) was a senior officer of the British Army. He served in the Second Boer War, the Bazar Valley Campaign and the First World Wa ...

at a ceremony at Imphal in front of the Scottish, Gurkha and Punjab regiments. Slim was knighted and invested as

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

at the same occasion. Slim valued Scoones as a defensive commander, but when the Fourteenth Army went onto the offensive after Imphal he wanted a more aggressive and less calculating commander for IV Corps. Scoones was appointed to Central Command, India.

Post-war

In 1947 Scoones was briefly the last

Military Secretary to the India Office A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a di ...

. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1947, and later in the year he became Principal Staff Officer at the Commonwealth Relations Office. Between 1947 and 1949 he was also aide-de-camp to King

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952 ...

. From 1953 to 1957, he was

High Commissioner to New Zealand The high commissioner of the United Kingdom to New Zealand is the United Kingdom's foremost diplomatic representative in New Zealand, and head of the UK's diplomatic mission in New Zealand. As the United Kingdom and New Zealand are fellow memb ...

References

Sources

* * * *
Generals of World War II
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Scoones, Geoffrey 1893 births 1975 deaths People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Indian Army generals of World War II Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of the Star of India Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Military Cross British Indian Army generals Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies Graduates of the Staff College, Quetta Indian Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from London High commissioners of the United Kingdom to New Zealand