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 Richard Wakefield Goodbody, (12 April 1903 – 29 April 1981) was a senior

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 served as

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 ...

from 1960 to 1963.

Military career

Educated at

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 Academy, Woolwich, Richard Goodbody 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 ...

on 29 August 1923. Orde Wingate and Douglas Packard were among his fellow graduates, both of whom also rose to general officer's rank.Who Was Who Volume V111 1981–1990 (1991) He was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

on 29 August 1925. He was posted to the

Royal Horse Artillery The Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) was formed in 1793 as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery (commonly termed Royal Artillery) to provide horse artillery support to the cavalry units of the British Army. (Although the cavalry link r ...

in 1927. He 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 ...

, commanding the 2nd Armoured Brigade from 1943 to 1946 and being awarded the

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, ty ...

in 1943. After the war, Goodbody became Commander, Royal Artillery for the 7th Armoured Division in March 1946, commander of the 15th Infantry Brigade in June 1947 and Commandant on the

Royal School of Artillery The Royal School of Artillery (RSA) is the principal training establishment for artillery warfare in the British Army. Established in 1915, it is located at Larkhill, Wiltshire, on the south edge of Salisbury Plain in the United Kingdom. The Scho ...

in December 1949. He went on to become General Officer Commanding

56th (London) Armoured Division The 56th (London) Infantry Division was a Territorial Army infantry division of the British Army, which served under several different titles and designations. The division served in the trenches of the Western Front during the First World War. ...

in April 1951, Director of the Royal Artillery in April 1954 and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Northern Command in May 1957. His last appointment was as

in July 1960 before he retired in June 1963. In the late 1950s Goodbody chaired a Committee investigating a shortage of entrants to 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 infant ...

.Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst
Hansard, 6 May 1959 He was also Colonel Commandant of the

from 1957 to 1968, Colonel Commandant of the Royal Horse Artillery from 1960 to 1968, and ADC General to

the Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

from 1961 to 1963. He lived in Blandford Forum,

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

. Goodbody was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1953 and upgraded to a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in 1963. He was also appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1958.

References

External links

Generals of World War II
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodbody, Richard British Army generals 1903 births 1981 deaths People educated at Rugby School Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Royal Artillery officers British Army brigadiers of World War II People from Blandford Forum