John_Kennedy_(British_Army_officer,_born_1893)

John Kennedy (British Army officer, born 1893)

John Kennedy (British Army officer, born 1893)

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Major-General Sir John Noble Kennedy, GCMG, KCVO, KBE, CB, MC (31 August 1893 – 15 June 1970) was a senior British Army officer who served as Assistant Chief of the Imperial General Staff during World War II.

Quick Facts Born, Died ...

Early life

Kennedy was born on 31 August 1893 in Portpatrick, the son of the Minister James Russell Kennedy and his wife Sarah.[1]

Military career

Kennedy joined the Royal Navy in 1911 and then, after attending the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, transferred to the Royal Garrison Artillery at the start of World War I in July 1915[2] going on to see action in France, Flanders and Egypt.[3] He was awarded the Military Cross during his service, the citation for which reads:

For conspicuous gallantry in action. He, with three men, established an observation post in "No Man's Land," and under very heavy hostile fire directed the fire of his Battery most successfully. He has on many previous occasions done fine work.[4]

He then served with the British Military Mission in South Russia during the Russian Civil War, for which he was mentioned in dispatches.[5]

After attending the Staff College, Camberley from 1921 to 1922 (returning there as an instructor from 1931−1934),[5] he was appointed Deputy Director of Military Operations at the War Office in 1938.[3] He also served in World War II as Director of Plans at the War Office from 1939, Commander Royal Artillery for the 52nd Division from early 1940 and as Director of Military Operations at the War Office from later that year.[3] He went on to be Assistant Chief of the Imperial General Staff in October 1943 until February 1945.[6]

He was Governor of Southern Rhodesia from 1947 to 1953.[3]

Family

In 1926 Kennedy married Isabella Rosamond Georgiana Joicey-Cecil (1901–1941).[7] Kennedy married Catherine Fordham (1905–1969) in 1942;[8] on 2 January 1939 Fordham had been appointed lady-in-waiting to Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1870–1948).[9]

References

  1. [1]
    Orr, Brian J (2013). Bones of Empire. Lulu Enterprises. p. 164. ISBN 978-1291434828.
  2. [2]
    "No. 29242". The London Gazette. 27 July 1915. p. 7335.
  3. [3]
    "Kennedy, Sir John Noble (1893–1970), Major General". King's College London, Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  4. [4]
    "No. 30001". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 March 1917. p. 2984.
  5. [5]
    Smart 2005, p. 176.
  6. [6]
    Mackie, Colin (2011). "Senior Army Appointments" (PDF). gulabin.com. p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  7. [7]
    Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage. Vol. III (107th ed.). Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd. p. 3495. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  8. [8]
    England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005
  9. [9]
    Fordham, Catherine (21 January 1939). "Princess's New Lady-in-Waiting". The Evening Telegraph. Retrieved 17 March 2014.

Bibliography

  • Mead, Richard (2007). Churchill's Lions: a biographical guide to the key British generals of World War II. Stroud (UK): Spellmount. ISBN 978-1-86227-431-0.
  • Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnesley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 1844150496.
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