General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED On ...

Sir George James Giffard (27 September 1886 – 17 November 1964) was a British military officer, who had a distinguished career in command of African troops in World War I, rising to command an Army Group in South East Asia in World War II.

Early career

Giffard was the eldest son of George Campbell Giffard, Clerk of the Journals, House of Commons, and Jane Lawrence, granddaughter of the Vice-Chancellor Sir James Bacon. He was thus a nephew of the Socialist politician Susan Lawrence. After attending

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry ...

, he was commissioned into the

Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) was a line infantry regiment of the English and later the British Army from 1661 to 1959. It was the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, behind only the Royal Scots in the British Arm ...

in 1906. In 1913, while serving with its 1st Battalion, he saw action in East Africa. He transferred into a unit of the

King's African Rifles The King's African Rifles (KAR) was a multi-battalion British colonial regiment raised from Britain's various possessions in East Africa from 1902 until independence in the 1960s. It performed both military and internal security functions withi ...

Giffard saw active service in World War I, his unit serving in the East Africa campaign against the German colonial forces (

Schutztruppe (, Protection Force) was the official name of the colonial troops in the African territories of the German colonial empire from the late 19th century to 1918. Similar to other colonial armies, the consisted of volunteer European commissioned ...

) under Lettow-Vorbeck. He rose to command a column of two battalions of the KAR, "Gifcol". Highly respected and lauded by his own soldiers, an Australian scout under his command commented that Giffard was "an efficient and tireless soldier, hoexpected his officers and men to be the same". He was also wounded, was awarded the DSO, and was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

four times. Although Lettow-Vorbeck's forces were never rounded up, Gifcol was nevertheless the most effective unit involved in the efforts to pursue and capture them, and came close to destroying the remaining Schutztruppe during the Battle of Lioma in 1918. After the war, Giffard attended the

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which i ...

from 1919 to 1920. On graduating, he joined the

Royal West African Frontier Force The West African Frontier Force (WAFF) was a multi-battalion field force, formed by the British Colonial Office in 1900 to garrison the West African colonies of Nigeria, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone and Gambia. In 1928, it received royal recogniti ...

. In 1927 he participated in the Shanghai Expeditionary Force as the

Second-in-Command Second-in-command (2i/c or 2IC) is a title denoting that the holder of the title is the second-highest authority within a certain organisation. Usage In the British Army or Royal Marines, the second-in-command is the deputy commander of a unit, ...

of the 1st Battalion the Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment. The following year, he was appointed an Instructor at the Staff College, Camberley, and then in 1931 attended the

Imperial Defence College The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...

, and later became

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) 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 given wide latitud ...

of the 2nd Battalion, Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment at

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the Engli ...

. In 1933 he became a

General Staff Officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military u ...

, Grade 1 (GSO1) (effectively the

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

) of the British 2nd Infantry Division. Giffard returned to West Africa in 1936, when he was appointed Inspector-General of the West African Frontier Force. He was appointed Inspector-General of African Colonial Forces in 1938.

Second World War

Giffard began the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

as Military Secretary at 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 t ...

, and then, from 1940, was General Officer Commanding British Forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordan. In 1941 he became Commander-in-Chief of the

West Africa Command West Africa Command was a Command of the British Army. Conflicting information indicates that the command was either based at Achimota College in Accra or in Nigeria. It was disbanded in 1956. History After the First World War, military forces in ...

. While the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

was barred to British shipping by German and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional It ...

naval and air force units, West Africa was an important link in Allied lines of communication to the Middle East and the Far East. In addition to organising the logistic infrastructure, Giffard's major achievement was the reorganisation of the units of the Royal West African Frontier Force into two field infantry divisions, capable of serving as independent forces in rough terrain. Initially, this was in response to a potential threat from

Vichy French Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...

forces in Senegal and Niger. Later, these two divisions,

81st (West Africa) Division The 81st (West African) Division was formed under British control during the Second World War. It took part in the Burma Campaign. History The inspiration for the division's formation came from General George Giffard, commander of the Britis ...

and

82nd (West Africa) Division The 82nd (West African) Division was formed under British control during the Second World War. It took part in the later stages of the Burma Campaign and was disbanded in Burma between May and September 1946. History Formation The inspirat ...

served with distinction in the Burma Campaign. He was made General Officer Commanding, Eastern Army, in India, in May 1943. This army faced the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese army which had occupied

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. Several sources, notably Field Marshal William "Bill" Slim, testified to his contribution to the improvement in morale and effectiveness in Eastern Army during this period. In October 1943 he was appointed Commander in Chief of 11th Army Group in India and Burma, effectively being commander in chief of land forces in the

South East Asia Command South East Asia Command (SEAC) was the body set up to be in overall charge of Allied operations in the South-East Asian Theatre during the Second World War. History Organisation The initial supreme commander of the theatre was General Sir A ...

. His period of command here was less happy. He was temperamentally the opposite of the publicity-hungry Commander in Chief, Admiral

Louis Mountbatten Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British naval officer, colonial administrator and close relative of the British royal family. Mountbatten, who was of Germa ...

, and the two men often clashed. He and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

General

Joseph Stilwell Joseph Warren "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell (March 19, 1883 – October 12, 1946) was a United States Army general who served in the China Burma India Theater during World War II. An early American popular hero of the war for leading a column walking ...

also disliked each other. Stilwell, as commander of the

Northern Combat Area Command The Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC) was a subcommand of the Allied South East Asia Command (SEAC) during World War II. It controlled Allied ground operations in northern Burma. For most of its existence, NCAC was commanded by United States ...

, refused to take Giffard's orders, claiming that he could not submit American forces to British control, and as Deputy Supreme Commander to Mountbatten he was in any case Giffard's superior. The resulting command arrangement was an awkward compromise. In March 1944, relations between Mountbatten and Giffard broke during a crisis at the start of the

Battle of Imphal ) , partof = the Operation U-Go during the Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II , image = Imphalgurkhas.jpg , image_size = 300 , caption = Gurkhas advancing with Grant tanks ...

. Mountbatten acted decisively to obtain transport aircraft from the

United States Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

to fly reinforcements and supplies to the isolated Allied troops at

Imphal Imphal ( Meitei pronunciation: /im.pʰal/; English pronunciation: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (also known as Kangla Fort), the royal seat of the fo ...

. Mountbatten's Chief of Staff, Lieutenant-General

Henry Pownall Lieutenant General Sir Henry Royds Pownall, (19 November 1887 – 10 June 1961) was a senior British Army officer who held several important command and staff appointments during the Second World War. In particular, he was chief of staff to the ...

, wrote that Giffard had shown no initiative at all. Giffard was notified of his dismissal in May, but was asked to remain in post until his successor, Lieutenant-General

Oliver Leese Lieutenant-General Sir Oliver William Hargreaves Leese, 3rd Baronet, (27 October 1894 – 22 January 1978) was a senior British Army officer who saw distinguished active service during both the world wars. He is probably most notable during the ...

, could relieve him. As a result, he remained until October.

Other appointments

In 1945, he was made Colonel of the Queen's Royal Regiment. He was also Colonel Commandant of the Royal West African Frontier Force and of the King's African Rifles. Giffard was also

Aide-de-Camp General Aide-de-camp general is a senior honorary appointment for generals in the British Army. The recipient is appointed as an aide-de-camp general to the head of state, currently King Charles III. They are entitled to the post-nominals "ADC (Gen.)". The ...

to the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ti ...

from 1943 to 1946. He retired in 1946.

Honours and awards

* Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one ...

- 1 January 1944 (KCB - 1 January 1941, CB - 1 January 1938) *

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

- 4 June 1917, for distinguished service in the field *

Mentioned in Despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

- 1 April 1941 (for service in the Middle East August 1939-November 1940), 26 October 1944 (for service in Burma & Eastern Frontier of India) *

Order of Polonia Restituta , image=Polonia Restituta - Commander's Cross pre-1939 w rib.jpg , image_size=200px , caption=Commander's Cross of Polonia Restituta , presenter = the President of Poland , country = , type=Five classes , eligibility=All , awar ...

, 1st Class - 14 December 1943 *

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first aw ...

(France) - 31 August 1917

References

Bibliography

* * * * * *

External links

British Military History Biographies G
, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Giffard, George People from Englefield Green 1886 births 1964 deaths British Army generals British Army generals of World War II Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Grand Crosses of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Queen's Royal Regiment officers King's African Rifles officers British Army personnel of World War I People educated at Rugby School Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley War Office personnel in World War II Alumni of the Royal College of Defence Studies Academics of the Staff College, Camberley Military personnel from Surrey