https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=John_Aldam_AizlewoodJohn Aldam Aizlewood - Revision history2026-08-19T01:18:21ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Aldam_Aizlewood&diff=460099&oldid=prevLocweld: updated page2026-01-20T14:18:50Z<p>updated page</p>
<a href="//en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Aldam_Aizlewood&diff=460099&oldid=181016">Show changes</a>Locweldhttps://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Aldam_Aizlewood&diff=181016&oldid=prev>SmartyPants22: Image2021-06-25T13:08:12Z<p>Image</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Infobox military person<br />
|name=John Aldan Aizlewood<br />
|image= John Aldam Aizlewood.jpg<br />
|caption=<br />
|birth_date= {{birth date|1895|1|4|df=yes}}<br />
|death_date={{death date and age|1990|9|27|1895|1|4|df=yes}}<br />
|placeofburial_label=<br />
|placeofburial=<br />
|birth_place=[[Sheffield]], [[West Riding of Yorkshire]], [[England]]<br />
|death_place=[[Cheltenham]], [[Gloucestershire]], England<br />
|nickname=<br />
|allegiance={{flag|United Kingdom}}<br />
|branch={{army|United Kingdom}}<br />
|serviceyears=1914–1945<br />
|servicenumber=13500<br />
|rank=[[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major General]]<br />
|unit=[[4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards|4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards]]<br>[[4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards]]<br />
|commands=[[4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards]]<br>[[3rd (Meerut) Cavalry Brigade]]<br>[[252nd Indian Armoured Brigade|2nd Indian Armoured Brigade Group]]<br>[[29th Armoured Brigade (United Kingdom)|29th Armoured Brigade]]<br>[[30th Armoured Brigade]]<br>[[42nd Armoured Division (United Kingdom)|42nd Armoured Division]]<br />
|battles=[[World War I]]<br>[[World War II]]<br />
|awards=[[Military Cross]] (with [[Medal bar|Bar]])<br>[[Mentioned in dispatches]] (2)<br />
}}<br />
[[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] '''John Aldam Aizlewood''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|MC1|DL}} (4 January 1895 – 27 September 1990) was a senior [[Officer (armed forces)|officer]] of the [[British Army]] who served during [[World War I]], the [[Interwar period|interwar years]] and [[World War II]].<br />
<br />
==Military career==<br />
John Aldan Aizlewood was [[Commissioned officer|commissioned]] into [[4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards]] on 12 August 1914.<ref name=lh>{{cite web|url=http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/AIZLEWOOD.shtml|title=Aizlewood, John Aldam |publisher=Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090322045143/http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/AIZLEWOOD.shtml |access-date=27 May 2020|archive-date=2009-03-22 }}</ref><ref name="Half Yearly Army List January 1946">Half Yearly Army List January 1946</ref><br />
<br />
He served in [[World War I]] on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] and was awarded the [[Military Cross]] twice while serving with the [[Machine Gun Corps]].<ref name=lh/> After the war he became a Brigade Major in [[India]] in 1927<ref name=lh/> and attended the [[Command and Staff College|Staff College, Quetta]] from 1932 to 1933, alongside future generals [[John Grover (British Army officer)|John Grover]] and [[Edmund Hakewill-Smith]]. From 1938 to 1939 he was [[Commanding Officer]] of the [[4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards]].<br />
<br />
He was promoted colonel 1 August 1939 with seniority 25 May 1939.<ref name="Half Yearly Army List January 1946"/><br />
<br />
He also served in [[World War II]] initially becoming [[Commander]] of [[3rd (Meerut) Cavalry Brigade]] in 1939.<ref name=lh/> In August 1941 as part of Paiforce (formerly [[Iraqforce]]), Brigadier Aizlewood commanded ''Hazelforce'' and the [[252nd Indian Armoured Brigade|2nd Indian Armoured Brigade Group]]<ref name=lh/> during the [[Anglo-Soviet invasion of Persia]]. He moved on to be [[Commander]] of [[30th Armoured Brigade (United Kingdom)|30th Armoured Brigade]] in August 1942 and then took responsibility for completing the conversion of [[42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division]] into a mechanised unit as [[42nd Armoured Division (United Kingdom)|42nd Armoured Division]] in December 1942.<ref name=lh/><br />
<br />
Returning to the UK he was appointed Commander of Essex and Suffolk District in late 1943 and acting [[General Officer Commanding]]-in-Chief for [[Eastern Command (United Kingdom)|Eastern Command]] in 1944 while Sir [[Alan Cunningham]] was away: he retired 9 May 1945 as an honorary major general.<ref name=lh/><ref name="Half Yearly Army List January 1946"/><br />
<br />
In retirement he was Colonel of the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards from 1948 to 1958.<ref name=lh/><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist|30em}}<br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
*[http://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_A04.html#Aizlewood_JA British Army Officers 1939−1945]<br />
*[http://www.generals.dk/general/Aizlewood/John_Aldam/Great_Britain.html Generals of World War II]<br />
<br />
{{s-start}}<br />
{{s-mil}}<br />
{{s-bef|before=[[Miles Dempsey]]}}<br />
{{s-ttl|title=[[42nd Armoured Division (United Kingdom)|GOC 42nd Armoured Division]]|years=1942–1943}}<br />
{{s-aft|after=[[Geoffrey Charles Evans|Geoffrey Evans]]<br><small>(as GOC [[42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division|42nd (Lancashire) Division]])</small>}}<br />
{{s-end}}<br />
<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aizlewood}}<br />
[[Category:1895 births]]<br />
[[Category:1990 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:People educated at Uppingham School]]<br />
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]<br />
[[Category:British Army generals of World War II]]<br />
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]<br />
[[Category:4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards officers]]<br />
[[Category:Machine Gun Corps officers]]<br />
[[Category:4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards officers]]<br />
[[Category:People from Sheffield]]<br />
[[Category:Deputy Lieutenants of Gloucestershire]]<br />
[[Category:Recipients of the Military Cross]]<br />
[[Category:Graduates of the Staff College, Quetta]]<br />
[[Category:Military personnel from Yorkshire]]</div>>SmartyPants22