John Swayne
Sir John George des Reaux Swayne KCB CBE was a senior British Army officer who became General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of South-Eastern Command during World War II.Military career
Born the son of William Swayne, Bishop of Lincoln, Swayne was commissioned into the Somerset Light Infantry in 1911. He served in World War I spending most of it as a prisoner of war.
After the War he was appointed Aide-de-camp to the General Officer Commanding Western Command in India before becoming Adjutant of his Regiment in 1924. He became a General Staff Officer at the War Office in 1927 and Brigade Major for 7th Infantry Brigade in 1929. He was made Military Assistant to the Chief of the Imperial General Staff in 1930 and Chief of Staff for the International Force for the Saar Plebiscite in Germany in 1934. He was selected to be Commanding Officer of 1st Bn Royal Northumberland Fusiliers in 1935 and Chief Instructor at the Staff College, Camberley in 1937.
He served in World War II initially as Head of the British Military Mission to the French General Headquarters and then as General Officer Commanding 4th Division from 1941. He was appointed Chief of the General Staff for Home Forces in 1942 and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of South Eastern Command in 1942. His final appointment was as Chief of the General Staff in India in 1944; he retired in 1946.
