John Swayne

Sir John Swayne
Born 1890
Died 1964 (aged 73 or 74)
Allegiance United Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Rank Lieutenant-General
Commands held 1st Bn Royal Northumberland Fusiliers
4th Division
South-Eastern Command
Battles/wars World War I
World War II
Awards Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Lieutenant General Sir John George des Reaux Swayne KCB CBE (1890–1964) was General Officer Commanding South-East Command.

Military career

Born the son of the Rt. Rev. William Shuckburgh Swayne (Bishop of Lincoln),[1] Swayne was commissioned into the Somerset Light Infantry in 1911.[2] He served in World War I spending most of it as a prisoner of war.[2] After the War he was appointed Aide-de-camp to the General Officer Commanding Western Command in India before becoming Adjutant of his Regiment in 1924.[2] He became a General Staff Officer at the War Office in 1927 and Brigade Major for 7th Infantry Brigade in 1929.[2] He was made Military Assistant to the Chief of the Imperial General Staff in 1930 and Chief of Staff for the International Force for the Saar Plebiscite in Germany in 1934.[2] He was selected to be Commanding Officer of 1st Bn Royal Northumberland Fusiliers in 1935 and Chief Instructor at the Staff College, Camberley in 1937.[2]

He served in World War II initially as Head of the British Military Mission to the French General Headquarters and then as General Officer Commanding 4th Division from 1941.[2] He was appointed Chief of the General Staff for Home Forces in 1942 and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of South Eastern Command in 1942.[2] His final appointment was as Chief of the General Staff in India in 1944; he retired in 1946.[2]

References

Military offices
Preceded by
Ralph Eastwood
General Officer Commanding the 4th Division
19401942
Succeeded by
John Hawkesworth
Preceded by
Sir Bernard Montgomery
GOC-in-C South-Eastern Command
1942 1944
Succeeded by
Sir Edmond Schreiber
Preceded by
Sir Edwin Morris
Chief of the General Staff (India)
19441946
Succeeded by
Sir Arthur Smith