Sir George Wilfred Turner, KCB,

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

(22 January 1896 – 10 May 1974) was a British civil servant. Born on 22 January 1896, Turner attended

Rotherham Grammar School (Lest We Should Seem Ungrateful) , established = , closed = , type = Grammar school, becoming County school , religious_affiliation = , president = , head_label = Headmast ...

before entering HM Civil Service as a boy clerk in the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

in 1911; this was the lowest grade in the clerical class. He moved up to the second division in 1914; he served for a short time in the Home Office and

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

, but was back in the War Office from the outbreak of the First World War until 1916, when he entered the army; he was twice wounded in action."Sir George Turner", ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' (London), 13 May 1974, p. 18. . After

demobilisation Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and militar ...

in 1919, Turner returned to his old department. He was promoted to assistant principal in 1921 and principal in 1934. He was made civil assistant to the Director-General of Munitions Supply in 1936, which was spun out to form the

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. A separate ministry, however, was responsible for aircr ...

in 1939 (on the outbreak of the Second World War); Turner was appointed principal assistant secretary in 1941 and second secretary the next year. He was then appointed

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day ...

of the War Office in 1949, serving until 1956. This period coincided with the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, the

Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...

and the withdrawal of troops from the

Suez Canal Zone The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

. He received several state honours in recognition of his service; in the

1944 New Year Honours The 1944 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1944 for the Briti ...

, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(KBE) and in the 1950 New Year Honours he was appointed a Knight Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

(KCB).
The London Gazette
', 30 December 1949 (supplement, issue 38797), p. 3. In retirement, Turner moved to the Cornwall (until that point he had lived in the same London house that he had occupied since the beginning of his career); he held various directorships in the private sector. He died on 10 May 1974.

References

{{Reflist 1896 births 1974 deaths British civil servants Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire