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{{Short description|British and Indian Army officer (1895–1990)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
|honorific_prefix = [[Major general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]]
|name= John Aldan Aizlewood
|honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MC*|DL}}
|image= John Aldam Aizlewood.jpg
|caption=
|nickname=
|birth_date= {{birth date|1895|1|4|df=yes}}
|birth_place= [[Sheffield]], [[West Riding of Yorkshire]], England
|death_date= {{death date and age|1990|9|27|1895|1|4|df=yes}}
|death_place= [[Cheltenham]], [[Gloucestershire]], England
|placeofburial=
|allegiance= United Kingdom
|branch= [[British Army]]
|serviceyears= 1914–1945
|rank= [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]]
|servicenumber= 13500
|unit= [[4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards|4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards]] [[4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards]]
|commands= [[42nd Armoured Division (United Kingdom)|42nd Armoured Division]] [[30th Armoured Brigade]] [[29th Armoured Brigade (United Kingdom)|29th Armoured Brigade]] [[252nd Indian Armoured Brigade|2nd Indian Armoured Brigade Group]] [[3rd (Meerut) Cavalry Brigade]] [[4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards]]
|battles= [[First World War]] [[Second World War]]
|awards= [[Military Cross]] & [[Medal bar|Bar]] [[Mentioned in Despatches]] (2)
|relations=
|laterwork=
}}
[[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] '''John Aldam Aizlewood''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100|sep=,|MC1|DL}} (4 January 1895 – 27 September 1990) was a senior [[British Army]] officer who served in the [[First World War|First]] and [[Second World War]]s.

==Military career==
John Aldan Aizlewood was [[Commissioned officer|commissioned]] into the [[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> He served in the [[First World War]] on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] and was awarded the [[Military Cross]] (MC) and [[Medal bar|Bar]] while serving with the [[Machine Gun Corps]].<ref name=lh/> The citation for his MC, awarded in January 1918, reads:<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30651|page=4994|supp=y|date=23 April 1918}}</ref>

{{Quote|For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when with the leading troops of an advanced guard. Owing to his initiative and resource an enemy ammunition column was destroyed, a headquarters raided, and several officers, fifty men and two machine guns were captured.}}

The Bar to his MC, awarded in June, reads:<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30761|page=7397|supp=y|date=21 June 1918}}</ref>

{{Quote|For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. On the troops on his right flank withdrawing, he immediately organised a counter-attack, leading it himself, by which the lost ground was regained. He succeeded in (maintaining his position, displaying the greatest initiative and gallantry throughout a most trying period.}}

After the war, Aizlewood became a [[brigade major]] in India in 1927<ref name=lh/> and attended the [[Pakistan 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 1936 to 1939 he was the [[commanding officer]] of the [[4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://generals.dk/general/Aizlewood/John_Aldam/Great_Britain.html|title=Aizlewood, John Aldam|publisher=Generals.dk|access-date=28 October 2021}}</ref> He was promoted colonel 1 August 1939 with seniority 25 May that year.<ref name="Half Yearly Army List January 1946"/>

Aizlewood also served in the [[Second World War]], initially becoming commander of the [[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 the [[30th Armoured Brigade (United Kingdom)|30th Armoured Brigade]] in August 1942 and then took responsibility for completing the conversion of the [[42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division]] into a mechanised unit as the [[42nd Armoured Division (United Kingdom)|42nd Armoured Division]] in December 1942.<ref name=lh/>

Returning to the United Kingdom, Aizlewood 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"/>

In retirement he was Colonel of the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards from 1948 to 1958.<ref name=lh/>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book| first=Nick| last=Smart| title=Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War| isbn=1844150496| year=2005| location=Barnesley| publisher=Pen & Sword}}

==External links==
*[http://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_A04.html#Aizlewood_JA British Army Officers 1939−1945]
*[https://generals.dk/general/Aizlewood/John_Aldam/Great_Britain.html Generals of World War II]

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Miles Dempsey]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[42nd Armoured Division (United Kingdom)|GOC 42nd Armoured Division]]|years=1942–1943}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Geoffrey Charles Evans|Geoffrey Evans]] (as GOC [[42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division|42nd (Lancashire) Division]])}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aizlewood}}
[[Category:1895 births]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:British Army major generals]]
[[Category:People educated at Uppingham School]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]
[[Category:British Army generals of World War II]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards officers]]
[[Category:Machine Gun Corps officers]]
[[Category:4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards officers]]
[[Category:Deputy lieutenants of Gloucestershire]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Military Cross]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Command and Staff College Quetta]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Sheffield]]

John Aldam Aizlewood - Revision history

Locweld at 14:18, 20 January 2026