Roderick McLeod
Lieutenant General Sir Roderick William McLeod GBE, KCB (15 January 1905 – 6 December 1980) was a British Army officer who achieved high office in the 1950s.
Sir Roderick McLeod | |
|---|---|
| Born | 15 January 1905 |
| Died | 6 December 1980 (aged 75) |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |  British Army |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Commands held | 1st Airlanding Light Regiment Special Air Service Brigade 6th Armoured Division Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong Eastern Command |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath |
Military career
Educated at Wellington College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich McLeod was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1925.[1]
He saw service during the Khajuri Plains operations on the North West Frontier of India between 1930 and 1932.[1]
He served in World War II and was Commanding Officer 1st Airlanding Light Regiment Royal Artillery in North Africa and Sicily in 1943 moving on to be Deputy Commander 1st Parachute Brigade later that year.[1] He was then made the first Commander of the Special Air Service Brigade from 1944 to 1945.[1]
After the War he became Director of Military Operations in India between 1945 and 1947.[1] He was appointed Assistant Commandant at the Staff College in 1948 and then Commander Royal Artillery for 7th Armoured Division, which was then part of British Army of the Rhine in 1950.[1] He went on to be Director of Military Operations at the War Office in 1951 and then General Officer Commanding 6th Armoured Division in 1955.[1] He was made Chief Army Instructor at the Imperial Defence College in 1957 and Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff at the Ministry of Defence later that year.[2] He became Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong in 1960.[1]
He was also General Officer Commanding-in-Chief for Eastern Command from 1962;[1] during his time at Eastern Command he chaired the McLeod Reorganisation of Army Logistics Committee which recommended re-organisation of the Logistic Services of the British Army:[3] this led to the formation of the Royal Corps of Transport in 1965.[4] He retired in 1965.[1]
He lived at Woking in Surrey and from 1966 to his death was Chairman of the Hockering Residents' Association.[5]
Family
In 1933 he married Camilla Rachel Hunter Fell, who died in 1942. Then in 1946 he married Mary Vavasour Lloyd Thomas MBE, daughter of Dr Henry Lloyd Driver and his wife Amy Vavasour Berridge.[6] She was the widow of Captain Henry Cecil Augustus Heyman, who died at Aldershot in 1935,[7] and of Major Robert Jocelyn Henry Thomas MVO, killed in action at Tobruk in 1941.[8] She was born in 1909 and died in 2000 in Surrey.[9]
References
- Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
- Flight Global
- Royal Corps of Transport
- Royal Engineers Museum Archived 30 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- The Hockering Estate
- Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911: Class: RG14; Piece: 5551; Schedule Number:47A
- Find A Grave, retrieved 12 February 2016
- Find A Grave, retrieved 12 February 2016
- England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes: Register Number: C10B; District and Subdistrict: 7611C; Entry Number: 168
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Francis Mitchell |
GOC 6th Armoured Division 1955–1957 |
Succeeded by Denis O'Connor |
| Preceded by Sir Edric Bastyan |
Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong 1960–1961 |
Succeeded by Sir Reginald Hewetson |
| Preceded by Sir Gerald Lathbury |
GOC-in-C Eastern Command 1962–1965 |
Succeeded by Sir George Cole |