Geoffrey Bourne, Baron Bourne

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other persons named Geoffrey Bourne, see Geoffrey Bourne (disambiguation).

General Geoffrey Kemp Bourne, Baron Bourne GCB, KBE, CMG (5 October 1902 – 26 June 1982) was a British soldier.

Commissioned to the Royal Artillery in 1923, Bourne served in Hong Kong from 1930 to 1932, in Gibraltar from 1933 and 1934, in the Staff College, Camberley in 1935 and 1936, and in Colchester in 1937. In 1938 and 1938, he was General Staff Officer of the War Office. During the Second World War, he was a member of the Joint Planning Staff between 1939 and 1941, and a member of the Joint Staff Mission in Washington, D.C. in 1942. In 1944, he was Commander of the 152 Field Artillery Force, Ayrshire Yeomanry, fighting in Italy, and member of the General Staff, Airborne Corps, fighting in Belgium.

Between 1945 and 1946, he commanded the 5th Indian Division, in Java and worked at the Imperial Defence College in 1947. He was Head of the British Mission to Burma in 1948 and General Officer Commanding, British Sector, Berlin from 1949 to 1951. Between 1951 and 1953 he commanded 16 Airborne Division, was General Officer Commander in Chief Eastern Command between 1953 and 1954, and Director of Operations Malaya between 1954 and 1956. Bourne was Commander-in-Chief, Middle East Land Forces in 1957 and Commandant of the Imperial Defence College between 1958 and 1959. After being Aide-de-Camp General to The Queen in 1959 and 1960, he retired from the army and was Honorary Colonel, 10 Battalion The Parachute Regiment, Territorial Army from 1960 to 1965.

Bourne was invested as a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire and as a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. On 22 August 1964, he was created a life peer with the title Baron Bourne, of Atherstone in the County of Warwickshire.