General Sir Nevil Charles Dowell Brownjohn, GBE, KCB, CMG, MC (25 July 1897 – 21 April 1973) was a senior British Army officer who served as Quartermaster-General to the Forces from 1956 until his retirement in 1958.
Sir Nevil Brownjohn | |
|---|---|
 Nevil Brownjohn in c. 1942 | |
| Nickname(s) | "BJ"[1] |
| Born | 25 July 1897 Richmond, Surrey, England[2] |
| Died | 21 April 1973 (aged 75) |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1915–1958 |
| Rank | General |
| Service number | 11450 |
| Unit | Royal Engineers |
| Battles / wars | First World War Second World War |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George Military Cross |
Military career
editAfter attending the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Brownjohn was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in April 1915.[3] He served in the First World War in France and Palestine, where he was awarded the Military Cross in 1917.[4][1][5]
In 1927 he was sent, as a captain, to China to protect the international settlement in Shanghai; he used his skills as a Russian speaker to raise a company of White Russians.[6]
Attending the Staff College, Camberley from 1931 to 1932, he also served in the Second World War, rising to be major general in charge of supplies to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander, in 1943.[4] He then became Deputy Chief of Staff at General Eisenhower's Headquarters in 1944 before being appointed Deputy Quartermaster-General in the Middle East later that year.[4]
After the war he took charge of Administration for the British Army of the Rhine and then joined the Control Commission (British Sector) for Germany in 1947.[4] He became Vice Quartermaster General at the War Office in 1949 and Vice Chief of Imperial General Staff in 1950.[4] He was Chief Staff Officer at the Ministry of Defence from 1952 to 1955 when he became Quartermaster-General to the Forces; he retired in 1958.[4]
References
edit- ^ a b Smart 2005, p. 47.
- ^ "Nevil Charles Dowell Brownjohn". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
- ^ "No. 29137". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 April 1915. p. 3923.
- ^ a b c d e f Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
- ^ "No. 30450". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 1917. p. 32.
- ^ The Memoirs of Major-General FVB Witt CB CBE DSO MC Royal Engineers Journal, September 1969, Page 245
Bibliography
edit- Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnesley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 1844150496.