George Giffard

George Giffard
General George Giffard around 1943/44 in British India.
Born	27 September 1886 Englefield Green, Surrey, England
Died	17 November 1964 (aged 78) Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1905–1946
Rank	General
Unit	Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey)
Commands held	2nd Battalion, Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment British Forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordan West Africa Command Eastern Army, India 11th Army Group
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order
Relations	Susan Lawrence (aunt)

General Sir George James Giffard GCB DSO (27 September 1886 – 17 November 1964) was a British military officer, who had a distinguished career in command of African troops in World War I, rising to command an Army Group in South East Asia in World War II.

Giffard was the eldest son of George Campbell Giffard, Clerk of the Journals, House of Commons, and Jane Lawrence, granddaughter of the Vice-Chancellor Sir James Bacon. He was thus a nephew of the Socialist politician Susan Lawrence. After attending Rugby School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, he was commissioned into the Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment in 1906. In 1913, while serving with its 1st Battalion, he saw action in East Africa. He transferred into a unit of the King's African Rifles.

He saw active service in the First World War, his unit serving in the East Africa campaign against the German forces under Lettow-Vorbeck. He rose to command a column of two battalions of the KAR, "Gifcol". Although Lettow-Vorbeck's forces were never rounded up, Gifcol was nevertheless the most effective unit involved in the efforts to pursue and capture them. Giffard was wounded, was awarded the DSO, and was mentioned in despatches four times.

After the war, Giffard attended the Staff College, Camberley from 1919 to 1920. On graduating, he joined the Royal West African Frontier Force. In 1927 he participated in the Shanghai Expeditionary Force as the Second-in-Command of the 1st Battalion the Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment. The following year, he was appointed an Instructor at the Staff College, Camberley, and then in 1931 became Commanding Officer of the 2nd Battalion the Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment at Aldershot. In 1933 he became a General Staff Officer, Grade 1 (GSO1) (effectively the Chief of Staff) of the British 2nd Infantry Division.