Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...

Sir Gordon Nevil Macready, 2nd Baronet, (5 April 1891 – 17 October 1956) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer who served as Assistant Chief of the Imperial General Staff 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 ...

Military career

Born in

Kandy Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of ...

British Ceylon British Ceylon (; ), officially British Settlements and Territories in the Island of Ceylon with its Dependencies from 1802 to 1833, then the Island of Ceylon and its Territories and Dependencies from 1833 to 1931 and finally the Island of Cey ...

, on 5 April 1891, the son of Sir Nevil Macready, Gordon Macready was sent to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and was educated at

Cheltenham College Cheltenham College is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1841 as a Church of England foundation and is known for its outstanding linguis ...

and later entered the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of Officer (armed forces), commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers o ...

and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

on 23 December 1910. Promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 21 December 1912, Macready served on the Western Front during 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 an aide-de-camp in November 1914 and later an assistant adjutant and quartermaster general for the

66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division The 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division was an infantry Division (military), division of the British Army, part of the Territorial Force, which saw service in the Trench warfare, trenches of the Western Front (World War I), Western Front, duri ...

in 1917. He was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

on 23 December 1916,Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> and brevet

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

on 3 June 1917. After the war, from April 1919, he became Assistant Adjutant General for the British Military Mission to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. Attending the

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which ...

from 1923 to 1924, he was appointed Assistant Secretary to the Committee of Imperial Defence in 1926, which was followed by attendance at 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 ...

in 1933. He was promoted to colonel in April 1934, with seniority backdated to the previous July, and made a GSO1 at the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

. He was deputy director of staff duties at the War Office in 1936 and head of the British military mission to Egypt in 1938. He served in the

as Assistant Chief of the Imperial General Staff from October 1940 and as Head of the British Army mission in Washington D. C. from 1942 until his retirement in 1946. In retirement he became Regional Commissioner for

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

in 1946, British Chairman of the Economic Control Office for the British and American Zones of Germany in 1947 and then Economic Advisor to the UK High Commissioner in 1949. He is author of the book ''In the wake of the great'' published by Clowes in 1965.

Family

In 1920 he married Elisabeth Pauline Sabine Marie de Noailles; they had one son, Sir Nevil Macready, 3rd Bt.Angelfire
/ref>

Arms

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Macready, Gordon 1891 births 1956 deaths People from British Ceylon Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies British Army generals of World War II British Army personnel of World War I Commanders of the Legion of Merit Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Order of the Bath Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Grand Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire 2 Gordon British recipients of the Legion of Honour People educated at Cheltenham College People from Kandy Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Engineers officers War Office personnel in World War II