Sir John Archibald Ford,

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

, MC (19 February 1922 – 16 January 2018) was a British diplomat. He served as British Ambassador to Indonesia from 1975 to 1978 and

British High Commissioner to Canada The high commissioner of the United Kingdom to Canada is the United Kingdom's foremost Diplomat, diplomatic representative in Canada and is in charge of the British High Commission, Ottawa, British diplomatic mission to Canada. As fellow members ...

from 1978 to 1981.

Biography

Ford was born in

Newcastle-under-Lyme Newcastle-under-Lyme ( RP: , ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. The 2011 census population of the town was 75,082, whilst the wider borough had a population of 1 ...

, the son of Ronald Mylne Ford, a solicitor, and Margaret Jesse Coghill. He was educated at College of St Michael and All Angels,

Tenbury Tenbury Wells (locally Tenbury) is a market town and civil parish in the northwestern extremity of the Malvern Hills District of Worcestershire, England. Its northern border adjoins Shropshire, and at the 2011 census it had a population of 3,777. ...

and

Sedbergh School Sedbergh School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, in North West England. It comprises a junior school for children aged 4 to 13 and the main school for 13 to 18 year olds. It w ...

, before being called up for military service in 1941 He was commissioned into the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

and was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

in 1945 for “sustained gallantry, skill and devotion to duty, showing initiative and resource of the highest order” during the battle for Kervenheim in Germany. After the conclusion of the war in Europe, he was posted to

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

. After being demobilized as a temporary Major, Ford went up to

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...

, where he read French and German. He then joined the Foreign Service (later the

Diplomatic Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to ...

), and was posted to Budapest as a third secretary.

References

*
Sir John Ford, diplomat – obituary
, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 19 April 2018 *
Sir John Ford
, ''The Times'', 5 March 2018 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, John 1922 births 2018 deaths Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War II Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Indonesia High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Canada Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford British expatriates in Hungary Members of HM Diplomatic Service