Major-General John Aldam Aizlewood, (4 January 1895 – 27 September 1990) was a senior

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 in the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

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

John Aldan Aizlewood was commissioned into the

4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards The 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards was a Cavalry regiments of the British Army, cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1685 as the Earl of Arran's Regiment of Cuirassiers. It was renamed as the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards in 1 ...

on 12 August 1914.Half Yearly Army List January 1946 He served 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 ...

on the Western Front and was awarded 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 ...

(MC) and

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

while serving with the

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a Regiment, corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in the World War I, First World War. Th ...

. The citation for his MC, awarded in January 1918, reads: The Bar to his MC, awarded in June, reads: After the war, Aizlewood became a

brigade major A brigade major was the chief of staff of a brigade in the British Army. They most commonly held the rank of major, although the appointment was also held by captains, and was head of the brigade's "G - Operations and Intelligence" section direct ...

in India in 1927 and attended 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 1932 to 1933, alongside future generals John Grover and

Edmund Hakewill-Smith Major General Sir Edmund Hakewill-Smith, (17 March 1896 – 15 April 1986) was a senior British Army officer who served in both the First and Second World Wars. Military career Hakewill-Smith was born in Kimberley, Cape Colony, on 17 March 1 ...

. From 1936 to 1939 he was the

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

4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards The 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards was a Cavalry regiments of the British Army, cavalry regiment of the British Army formed in 1922. It served in the World War II, Second World War. However following the reduction of forces at the end of the Cold W ...

. He was promoted colonel 1 August 1939 with seniority 25 May that year. Aizlewood also served in the

, initially becoming commander of the 3rd (Meerut) Cavalry Brigade in 1939. In August 1941 as part of Paiforce (formerly

Iraqforce Iraqforce was a British and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth formation that came together in the Kingdom of Iraq. The formation fought in the Middle East during World War II. Background During World War I, the British Army defeated the Otto ...

), Brigadier Aizlewood commanded ''Hazelforce'' and the 2nd Indian Armoured Brigade Group during the

Anglo-Soviet invasion of Persia The Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran, also known as the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Persia, was the joint invasion of the neutral Imperial State of Iran by the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union in August 1941. The two powers announced that they wo ...

. He moved on to be commander of the

30th Armoured Brigade The 30th Armoured Brigade was an armoured formation of the British Army that served in Western Front (World War II)#1944–1945: The Second Front, Western Europe Campaign as part of the 79th Armoured Division (United Kingdom), 79th Armoured Divis ...

in August 1942 and then took responsibility for completing the conversion of the

42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division The 42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division was raised in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force (TF), originally as the East Lancashire Division, and was redesignated as the 42nd (East ...

into a mechanised unit as the 42nd Armoured Division in December 1942. Returning to the United Kingdom, Aizlewood was appointed commander of Essex and Suffolk District in late 1943 and acting

General Officer Commanding General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (and some other nations, such as Ireland) to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC ...

-in-Chief for Eastern Command in 1944 while Sir

Alan Cunningham Sir Alan Gordon Cunningham, (1 May 1887 – 30 January 1983), was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the British Army noted for his victories over Italian forces in the East African Campaign (World War II), East African Campaign duri ...

was away: he retired 9 May 1945 as an honorary major general. In retirement he was Colonel of the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards from 1948 to 1958.

References

Bibliography

External links

British Army Officers 1939−1945
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aizlewood 1895 births 1990 deaths British Army major generals People educated at Uppingham School Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst British Army generals of World War II British Army personnel of World War I 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards officers Machine Gun Corps officers 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards officers Deputy lieutenants of Gloucestershire Recipients of the Military Cross Graduates of the Staff College, Quetta Military personnel from Sheffield