General Sir Ivo Lucius Beresford Vesey (11 August 1876 – 19 February 1975) was a British Army officer who served as Chief of the General Staff in India from 1937 to 1939.

Military career

Born the second son of Major General George Henry Vesey and educated at

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin *Wellington College, Wellington, New Z ...

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 a ...

, Vesey was commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the

Queen's Royal 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 Ar ...

on 20 February 1897. He was promoted to lieutenant on 20 October 1898. He served in the Second Boer War of 1899–1902, where he was wounded in the

Battle of Colenso The Battle of Colenso was the third and final battle fought during the Black Week of the Second Boer War. It was fought between British and Boer forces from the independent South African Republic and Orange Free State in and around Colenso, Na ...

on 15 December 1899, and later served in the Natal from March to June 1900, including action at Laing's Nek in June. While in South Africa, he was acting

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

of the 2nd Battalion of his regiment from 15 May to 29 November 1900. After peace was declared in May 1902, Vesey left South Africa on board the SS ''Bavarian'' and arrived in the United Kingdom the following month. Vesey later served in the First World War and then became Director of Recruiting and Organisation at the War Office in 1919. He was appointed Director of Organisation and Staff Duties at the Air Ministry in 1923, General Officer Commanding of 48th South Midland Division in 1930 and Director of Staff Duties at the War Office in 1931. He went on to be General Officer Commanding-in-Chief at Western Command, India in 1935, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief at Southern Command, India in March 1936 and Chief of the General Staff in India in 1937 before retiring in 1939. He served in the Second World War as a battalion commander in the Home Guard. He was also Colonel of the Queen's Royal Regiment from 1939 to 1945.

Family

In 1913, Vesey married Geraldine Foley; they had two sons.The Peerage.com
/ref> Ivo Vesey grave

Honours and awards

References

External links

Imperial War Museum Interview

Imperial War Museum Interview
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Vesey, Ivo 1876 births 1975 deaths British Army generals Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Distinguished Service Order People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Queen's Royal Regiment officers British Home Guard officers British Army personnel of World War I British Army personnel of World War II Recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium) Knights of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Officers of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) British Army personnel of the Second Boer War People from Dorking Military personnel from Surrey