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 ...

Sir Kenneth Noel Crawford, (25 June 1895 – 5 March 1961) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer who reached high office in the 1940s.

Early life and education

Crawford was born in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

, Ceylon, the son of Henry Leighton Crawford of the Ceylon Civil Service. He was educated at

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , hea ...

and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He was an active rugby player and played for the army in 1921.

Military career

Crawford was commissioned into the Royal Engineers and went on to serve in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, being 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 ...

in 1919. Attending the Staff College, Camberley, from 1929 to 1930, Crawford also served in 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 opposi ...

, joining the British Expeditionary Force to France in 1939.Generals.dk
/ref> He became Director of Chemical Warfare for the Home Forces in 1940, was appointed Deputy

Adjutant-General An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

in 1942, and Director of Air 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 ...

in 1943. After the war, Crawford was made General Officer Commanding British Forces in Greece. In 1947 he was appointed

Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff Deputy Chief of the General Staff (DCGS) is the title of the deputy to the Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the British Army. From 1942 until 1968 the Deputy Chief was the third-ranking member of the General Staff, subordinate ...

and, in 1949, he became Controller at the Ministry of Supply. In 1952 he was made Chairman of the

Royal Ordnance Factories Royal Ordnance Factories (ROFs) was the collective name of the UK government's munitions factories during and after the Second World War. Until privatisation, in 1987, they were the responsibility of the Ministry of Supply, and later the Minist ...

Board of Management; he retired in 1953. Crawford was also

Chief Royal Engineer The Chief Royal Engineer (CRE) is the official head of the Corps of Royal Engineers of the British Army. Origin and development Before the English Restoration a Chief Engineer was a pay grade and not defined. In 1660 King Charles II appointed ...

from 1958 to 1961.

Personal life

In retirement, Crawford joined the boards of several companies, including Edwin Dank (Oldbury) Ltd.,

Westland Aircraft Westland Aircraft was a British aircraft manufacturer located in Yeovil, Somerset. Formed as a separate company by separation from Petters Limited just before the start of the Second World War, Westland had been building aircraft since 1915. D ...

,Aviation Ancestry
/ref> and Penmen and Company, Ltd. He was president of the Army Rugby Union from 1948 to 1953. In 1921, Crawford married Doris Margaret Parker, daughter of Joseph Parker of the Indian Civil Service, with whom he had two sons and a daughter.

Bibliography

*Crawford, Kenneth Noel. (1954) ''Problems of weapon development in the cold war''

References

External links

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, Kenneth British Army generals of World War II Royal Engineers officers Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath 1895 births 1961 deaths British Army generals Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley People educated at Clifton College Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich British Army personnel of World War I People from Colombo