Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

Sir John George Smyth, 1st Baronet, (24 October 1893 – 26 April 1983), often known as Jackie Smyth, was a

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

officer and a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Member of Parliament. During WWII, he led a unit in France and during the evacuation of Dunkirk, and in the Burma campaign. Although a recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

, his military career ended in controversy.

Early life and education

Smyth was born in 1893 in

Teignmouth Teignmouth ( ) is a seaside town, fishing port and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign, about south of Exeter. The town had a population of 14 ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, the son of William John Smyth (1869–1893), a member of the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...

, and Lilian May Clifford. His grandfather was Army officer Henry Smyth, who was the second son of

John Henry Smyth John Henry Smyth (20 March 1780 – 20 October 1822) was a Whig member of Parliament for Cambridge University from 9 June 1812 until his death. Early life Smyth was born on 20 March 1780. He was one of four sons and two daughters born to Lady ...

(1780–1822), of Heath Hall, Wakefield, Yorkshire, a Whig MP for

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

(1812–1822) and Lady Elizabeth Anne FitzRoy, daughter of George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton. His great-uncle John George Smyth was an MP for the

City of York The City of York, officially simply "York", is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. ...

. Smyth was educated at

Dragon School The Dragon School is a private school across two sites in Oxford, England. The Dragon Pre-Prep (children aged 4–7) and Prep School (children aged 8–13) are both co-educational schools. The Dragon Prep School was founded in 1877 as the Oxfo ...

Repton Repton is a village and civil parish in the South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England, located on the edge of the River Trent floodplain, about north of Swadlincote. The population taken at the 2001 census was 2,707, increasing to 2 ...

, and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

.Smart, p. 292

Military career

After passing out from Sandhurst, Smyth was commissioned as a second lieutenant on the unattached list for the

on 24 August 1912, and was commissioned into the 15th Ludhiana Sikhs on 5 November 1913. He was promoted to lieutenant on 24 November 1914, three months after the outbreak of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He was 21 years old, and a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in the 15th Ludhiana Sikhs, 3rd (Lahore) Division, Indian Army during the First World War, when his actions earned him the

(VC). In June 1915, Smyth was awarded the VC, the United Kingdom's highest award for bravery in combat. The citation for this award, published in

the London Gazette ''The London Gazette'', known generally as ''The Gazette'', is one of the official journals of record or government gazettes of the Government of the United Kingdom, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, i ...

read: As well as Smyth's VC, the Indian Distinguished Service Medal was posthumously awarded to the men killed during this incident. Smyth was also awarded the Russian

Order of St. George The Order of Saint George () is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. It was originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) as the highest military decoration of the Russian Empire for commiss ...

, Fourth Class, in 1915, and was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

on 24 August 1916. Smyth continued his war service in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and on the North-West Frontier.

Between the wars

In September 1920, when

brigade major A brigade major was the chief of staff of a brigade in the British Army. They most commonly held the rank of major, although the appointment was also held by captains, and was head of the brigade's "G - Operations and Intelligence" section direct ...

of the 43rd Indian Brigade, Smyth was awarded the

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

(MC) for distinguished service in the field in

Waziristan Waziristan (Persian language, Persian, Pashto, Ormuri, , ) is a mountainous region of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Waziristan region administratively splits among three districts: North Waziristan, Lower South Waziristan Dis ...

. The citation for this award, published in the London Gazette, read: In 1923, while serving in India, Smyth played two

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

matches for the Europeans team. Returning to England, he 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 ...

from 1923 to 1924, and his fellow students included numerous men who would later achieve high command, including Arthur Percival, Dudley Johnson (a fellow VC recipient), Arthur Wakely, Colville Wemyss,

Montagu Stopford General Sir Montagu George North Stopford, (16 November 1892 – 10 March 1971) was a senior British Army Officer (armed forces), officer who fought during both the First World War, First and Second World Wars. The latter he served in with dist ...

John Halsted John Halsted (1768 – 2 November 1830) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Born into a naval family, Halsted wen ...

, Frederick Pile,

Gordon Macready Lieutenant-General Sir Gordon Nevil Macready, 2nd Baronet, (5 April 1891 – 17 October 1956) was a British Army officer who served as Assistant Chief of the Imperial General Staff during the Second World War. Military career Born in Kandy, B ...

, Roderic Petre, Alastair MacDougall, Edmond Schreiber, Michael Gambier-Parry, Richard Dewing, Leslie Hill, Kenneth Loch, Douglas Pratt, Balfour Hutchison, Robert Pargiter, Robert Stone and Henry Verschoyle-Campbell along with Horace Robertson of the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

and

Harry Crerar General Henry Duncan Graham Crerar, (28 April 1888 – 1 April 1965) was a senior officer of the Canadian Army who became the country's senior field commander in the Second World War as commander of the First Canadian Army in the campaign i ...

and

Georges Vanier Georges-Philias Vanier (; 23 April 1888 – 5 March 1967) was a Canadian military officer, diplomat, and statesman who served as the 19th governor general of Canada from 1959 to 1967, the first Quebecer (demonym), Quebecer and second Can ...

of the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also re ...

. Smyth received a brevet promotion to

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

on 1 January 1928, receiving the substantive promotion to major on 24 August 1929. By this time, he was a General Staff Officer Grade 3 (GSO3) with the 3rd Battalion,

11th Sikh Regiment The 11th Sikh Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. They could trace their origins to 1922, when after World War I the Indian government reformed the army moving from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments.S ...

, an appointment he vacated on 22 November 1929. An early appointment as the Indian Army instructor at the Staff College, Camberley in 1930 further indicated that Smyth's career was on the fast track, borne out by his appointment as a GSO2 at the Staff College on 16 January 1931, with the local rank of lieutenant colonel. He received a brevet promotion to lieutenant colonel on 1 July 1933, and relinquished his appointment at the Staff College on 16 January 1934. On 16 July 1936, Smyth was promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant colonel, an illustration of how rapidly his career had thus far progressed. He managed to persuade

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Lord Gort, then the

Chief of the Imperial General Staff Chief of the General Staff (CGS) has been the title of the professional head of the British Army since 1964. The CGS is a member of both the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Army Board; he is also the Chair of the Executive Committee of the A ...

(CIGS) and a former instructor at the Staff College in the mid-1920s, as well as being another fellow VC recipient, to give him an undertaking that he would be given a brigade to command in the United Kingdom should hostilities break out.

Second World War

Having managed to engineer leave from India to the United Kingdom in the summer of 1939, shortly before the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he called in his debt but was disappointed to be seconded to a United Kingdom-based staff job, as GSO1 of the 2nd London Division, a second-line Territorial Army (TA) formation, then commanded by Major General Harry Willans, which had only recently been formed.Mead, p. 430 In February 1940, after further lobbying, Smyth was appointed to command the 127th Infantry Brigade. His brigade major was Charles Phibbs Jones, later to become a full general. The brigade was one of three which formed part of the 42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division, another TA formation, then commanded by Major General William Holmes, which from April he led in France as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). After the evacuation from Dunkirk in late May, he continued to command the brigade in Britain until he was summoned to return to India in March 1941.Mead, p. 431 He was promoted to colonel on 23 December 1940. After briefly commanding

36th Indian Infantry Brigade The 36th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in June 1941, at Baleli in India and assigned to the 14th Indian Infantry Division. The brigade spent between March 1942 ...

Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...

and a period of sick leave, Smyth took command of 19th Indian Infantry Division as an

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad range of sk ...

major general in October, but was reassigned to command 17th Indian Infantry Division in December. Controversy surrounds his handling of the 17th Indian Division in February 1942, during its retreat across the Sittang River in

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

. It was said that he failed to expedite a strong bridgehead on the enemy's side of the river and was forced, when it came under threat from the Japanese, to order the blowing of the bridge while two-thirds of his division were still on the far side with no other means of crossing the river and therefore dooming them. Seventeen Division were the only formation standing between the Japanese and Rangoon, and this loss, therefore, led directly to the loss of

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

and Lower Burma. The

Commander-in-Chief, India During the period of the Company and Crown rule in India, the Commander-in-Chief, India (often "Commander-in-Chief ''in'' or ''of'' India") was the supreme commander of the Indian Army from 1833 to 1947. The Commander-in-Chief and most of his ...

Sir Archibald Wavell was furious and sacked Smyth on the spot. There is also a degree of controversy about Smyth's behaviour as regards his health in this period. He had not recovered from surgery for an anal

fistula In anatomy, a fistula (: fistulas or fistulae ; from Latin ''fistula'', "tube, pipe") is an abnormal connection (i.e. tube) joining two hollow spaces (technically, two epithelialized surfaces), such as blood vessels, intestines, or other h ...

, which must have caused him significant, and possibly distracting, discomfort, yet managed to be recommended as fit to stay in command by a medical board presided over by the senior doctor in his own division. Smyth received no further posts and returned to the United Kingdom to retire with the substantive rank of colonel and the honorary rank of brigadier.Mead, p. 433 It took 16 years and revision of the official history before his version of the affair versus that of General Hutton, his corps commander, was clarified. Smyth's book, ''Milestones'', 1979, gives his version in which he relates that he had made representations to General Hutton 10 days previously recommending a withdrawal to the west bank of the

Sittang River The Sittaung River ( ; formerly, the Sittang or Sittoung) is a river in south central Myanmar in Bago Division. The Pegu Range separates its basin from that of the Irrawaddy. The river originates at the edge of the Shan Hills southeast of Ma ...

, thus permitting a strong defence line to be established. His recommendation was refused.

Postwar career

Smyth went into politics and stood unsuccessfully against

Ernest Bevin Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 – 14 April 1951) was a British statesman, trade union leader and Labour Party politician. He co-founded and served as General Secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union from 1922 to 1940 and ...

in Wandsworth Central at the 1945 general election. At the 1950 election, he defeated the sitting Labour MP for Norwood, Ronald Chamberlain. He was made a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

on 23 January 1956 with the style Sir John George Smyth, VC, MC, 1st Baronet Smyth of Teignmouth in the County of Devon and a

privy counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

in 1962. He retired from Parliament at the 1966 general election; as of 2015, he was the last VC recipient to sit in the Commons. Smyth was also an author, a playwright, a journalist and a broadcaster. His two brothers were distinguished soldiers, one of whom also became a brigadier. He married twice: firstly Margaret Dundas on 22 July 1920, later dissolved, with whom he had three sons and a daughter; and then Frances Chambers on 12 April 1940. One of his sons, Captain John Lawrence Smyth of the 1st Battalion,

Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) 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 ...

, was killed on 7 May 1944, during the first attack on Jail Hill at the

Battle of Kohima The Battle of Kohima was the turning point of the Imperial Japan, Japanese Operation U-Go, U-Go offensive into British Raj, India in 1944 during the World War II, Second World War. The battle took place in three stages from 4 April to 22 June 19 ...

. Smyth was cremated at

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and is one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £136,000 in 2021), ...

. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the

Imperial War Museum The Imperial War Museum (IWM), currently branded "Imperial War Museums", is a British national museum. It is headquartered in London, with five branches in England. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, it was intended to record the civ ...

. One of Brigadier Smyth's uniforms is on display at the armoury of the Artillery Company of Newport in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

, USA. Smyth was a cat lover and wrote three books on cats, ''Beloved Cats'' (Frederick Muller, 1963), ''Blue Magnolia'' (Frederick Muller, 1964) and ''Ming: The Story of a Cat Family'' (Frederick Muller, 1966).

Footnotes

References

*''

Monuments to Courage David Charles Harvey (29 July 1946 – 4 March 2004) was a British historian and author. He is notable for his seminal work, ''Monuments To Courage'', which documents the graves of almost all recipients of the Victoria Cross, a task that took ...

'' (David Harvey, 1999) * * *''

The Register of the Victoria Cross ''The Register of the Victoria Cross'' is a reference work that provides brief information on every Victoria Cross awarded until the publication date. Each entry provides a summary of the deed, along with a photograph of the recipient and the f ...

'' (This England, 1997) *''Scotland's Forgotten Valour'' (Graham Ross, 1995) *

Bibliography

*''Defence is Our Business'' (Hutchinson, nd) *''The Western Defences'' (Allan Wingate, 1951) *''

Lawn Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

'' (Batsford, 1953) *''The Game's the Same: Lawn Tennis in the World of Sport'' (Cassell, 1956) *''Before the Dawn: A Story of Two Historic Retreats'' (Cassell, 1957) Dunkirk & Burma *''Paradise Island'' (Max Parrish, 1958) *''Trouble in Paradise'' (Max Parrish, 1959) *''The Only Enemy: An Autobiography'' (Hutchinson, 1959) *''Ann Goes Hunting'' (Max Parrish, 1960) *'' Sandhurst'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1961) *''The

1856–1964'' (Frederick Muller, 1963; reprinted 1965) *''Beloved Cats'' (Frederick Muller, 1963) *''Blue Magnolia'' (Frederick Muller, 1964) *''Behind the Scenes at Wimbledon'' (Collins, 1965) as told by Colonel Duncan Macaulay *''The Rebellious Rani'' (Frederick Muller, 1966) *''Ming: The Story of a Cat Family'' (Frederick Muller, 1966) *''Bolo Whistler: The Life of General Sir

Lashmer Whistler General (United Kingdom), General Sir Lashmer Gordon Whistler, (3 September 1898 – 4 July 1963), known as "Bolo", was a British Army officer who served in both the world wars. A junior officer during the First World War, during the Second Wor ...

; A Study in Leadership'' (Frederick Muller, 1967) *''The Story of the

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational Courage, gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, ...

'' (Arthur Barker, 1968) *''In This Sign Conquer: The Story of the Army Chaplains'' (Mowbray & Co., 1968) *''The Valiant'' (Mowbray & Co., 1970) *''The Will to Live: The Story of Dame Margot Turner D.B.E., R.R.C.'' (Cassell, 1970) *''

Jean Borotra Jean Laurent Robert Borotra (, ; 13 August 1898 – 17 July 1994) was a French tennis champion. He was one of the " Four Musketeers" from his country who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Borotra was imprisoned in Itter Castle ...

: The Bounding Basque'' (Stanley Paul, 1974) *''Leadership in War, 1939–45: Generals in Victory and Defeat'' (David & Charles, 1974) *''Leadership in Battle 1914–1918: Commanders in Action'' (David & Charles, 1975) *''Great Stories of the Victoria Cross'' (Arthur Barker, 1977) *''Milestones: A Memoir'' (Sidgwick & Jackson, 1979)

External links

Outline of his career
''(Golders Green)''

*

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Smyth, John George 1893 births 1983 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Indian Army personnel of World War I Indian Army generals of World War II British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at The Dragon School People educated at Repton School Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Recipients of the Military Cross English cricketers Europeans cricketers UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 British Indian Army officers People from Teignmouth British military personnel of the Second Mohmand Campaign British military personnel of the Third Anglo-Afghan War Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Fourth Degree British military personnel of the Waziristan Campaign Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Ministers in the third Churchill government, 1951–1955 Ministers in the Eden government, 1955–1957 Academics of the Staff College, Camberley Military personnel from Devon Indian Army personnel of World War II