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William Jackson (British Army officer)

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For other people named William Jackson, seeWilliam Jackson (disambiguation).

General

Sir William Jackson
Sir William Jackson (left) withSir Joshua Hassan,Chief Minister of Gibraltar(right), awaiting the arrival inGibraltarofCharles, Prince of Walesin 1977.
Born(1917-08-28)28 August 1917
Blackpool,Lancashire
Died12 March 1999(1999-03-12)(aged 81)
Swindon,Wiltshire
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Years of service1937–1977
RankGeneral
Service number73056
UnitRoyal Engineers
CommandsNorthern Command
Gurkha Engineers
Battles/warsSecond World War
Suez Crisis
Malayan Emergency
AwardsKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Military Cross&Bar
Mentioned in Despatches

GeneralSir William Godfrey Fothergill Jackson,GBE,KCB,MC&Bar(28 August 1917 – 12 March 1999)[1]was aBritish Armyofficer,military historian,author andGovernor of Gibraltar.

Military career

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Educated atShrewsbury School,theRoyal Military Academy, Woolwich,andKing's College, Cambridge,William Jackson wascommissionedinto theRoyal Engineersin August 1937.[2][3]

He served with theBritish Armyin theNorwegian campaignduring theSecond World War,which began in September 1939, where he was one of the first British officers to engage the enemy. His work in blowing up bridges as the British retreated fromLillehammerearned Jackson his firstMilitary Cross(MC).[4]He also served inNorth Africa,SicilyandItalyduring the war. He was twice injured by a land mine. The one atBou Aradain Tunisia placed him in bed for four months before he joined GeneralDwight D. Eisenhower's headquarters, where theAllied invasion of Sicilywas being planned.[4]He won aBarto his MC in 1944 at theBattle of Monte Cassinoin recognition of "gallant and distinguished services",[4][5]and by the end of the war Jackson was in post as an acting major but was only formally promoted captain in August 1945,[6]having been promoted to lieutenant in 1940.[7]He was alsomentioned in despatchesin 1945 for his services in Italy.[8]

After the war he became a generalstaffofficer at Headquarters Allied Land Forces, South East Asia in 1945 before moving on to be an instructor at theStaff College, Camberleyin 1948. Promoted major in 1950,[9]he was an instructor at theRoyal Military Academy, Sandhurstfrom 1951.[2]He was promotedbrevetlieutenant colonel in 1955[10]and was appointed Assistant Adjutant & Quartermaster General (Plans) at theWar Officeduring theSuez crisisin 1956.[2]Jackson was appointed anOfficer of the Order of the British Empirein the1957 Birthday Honours.[11]In 1958 he was promoted lieutenant colonel[12]and becameCommander,Gurkha Engineers in Malaya.[4]In 1960 he was promoted full colonel[13]and in 1961 returned to theStaff College, Camberleyas Colonel General Staff at the Minley Division.[2]

He was Deputy Director of Staff Duties at theWar Officefrom 1962 and joined theImperial Defence Collegein 1965[2]being promoted brigadier in March.[14]He went on to be Director of theChief of Defence Staff's Unison Planning Staff in 1966 in the temporary rank of major-general[15](his rank of major-general was confirmed as permanent in July 1966)[16]andAssistant Chief of the General Staff(Operational Requirements) at theMinistry of Defencein 1968.[2]

In 1970 Jackson was promoted to lieutenant-general and appointedGeneral Officer Commanding-in-Chief forNorthern Command.[17]He was knighted as aKnight Commander of the Order of the Bathin 1971,[18]and in 1973 he becameQuartermaster-General to the Forces[2]in the local rank of full general[19]with formal promotion to general coming four months later.[20]Advanced toKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empirein the 1975 Birthday Honours,[21]Jackson retired from active army service in February 1977,[22]taking a post of Military Historian at theCabinet Officefrom 1977 to 1978 and then becomingGovernor and Commander-in-ChiefofGibraltar,[23]overseeing the colony's transition to aBritish dependent territoryand where he was a stalwart advocate for self-determination in the territory.

Jackson retired from his post in Gibraltar in 1982 (having had his tenure extended by a year) and returned to being historian at the Cabinet Office until 1987.[4]He had held five honorary military appointments: asADC Generalto the Queen (1974–1979),[4]Colonel Commandant the Royal Engineers (1971–1981), Colonel the Gurkha Engineers (1971–1976), Colonel Commandant Royal Army Ordnance Corps (1973–1976)[2][24]and Colonel of the Territorial Army Volunteer Reserve Engineer and Railway Staff Corps.[25]

Works

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  • History of the Second World War,The Mediterranean and Middle East, vol. 6 (1984–1988; editor)
  • Attack in the West: Napoleon's First Campaign Re-read Today(1953);
  • From Fortress to Democracy: Political Biography of Sir Joshua Hassan(1995)
  • Seven Roads to Moscow(1957);
  • The Battle for Italy(1967);
  • The Battle for Rome(1969)
  • Alexander of Tunis(1972)
  • Overlord: Normandy 1944(1978);
  • Withdrawal From Empire: A Military View(1986)
  • The Rock of the Gibraltarians: A History of GibraltarISBN0838632378;(1987)
  • The Alternative Third World War, 1985–2035(1987)
  • Britain's Defence Dilemma: An Inside View: Rethinking British Defence Policy in the Post-Imperial Era(1990)
  • The Chiefs: the Story of the United Kingdom Chiefs of Staff(1992)
  • The Pomp of Yesterday: the Defence of India and the Suez Canal(1995)
  • Britain's Triumph and Decline in the Middle East(1996)

Legacy

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  • His name is given to a large residential estate inGibraltar(Sir William Jackson Grove).

References

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  1. ^New General Catalog of Old Books and Authors
  2. ^abcdefghLiddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
  3. ^"No. 34430".The London Gazette.27 August 1937. p. 5442.
  4. ^abcdefArthur, Max (15 March 1999)."Obituary: General Sir William Jackson".The Independent.Retrieved3 February2013.
  5. ^"No. 36828".The London Gazette(Supplement). 5 December 1944. p. 5609.
  6. ^"No. 37239".The London Gazette(Supplement). 24 August 1945. p. 4320.
  7. ^"No. 34931".The London Gazette(Supplement). 23 August 1940. p. 5204.
  8. ^"No. 36886".The London Gazette(Supplement). 9 January 1945. p. 320.
  9. ^"No. 39003".The London Gazette(Supplement). 29 August 1950. p. 4367.
  10. ^"No. 40657".The London Gazette(Supplement). 16 December 1955. p. 7135.
  11. ^"No. 41089".The London Gazette(Supplement). 4 June 1957. p. 3373.
  12. ^"No. 41508".The London Gazette(Supplement). 26 September 1958. p. 5955.
  13. ^"No. 42186".The London Gazette(Supplement). 4 November 1960. p. 7544.
  14. ^"No. 43738".The London Gazette(Supplement). 13 August 1965. p. 7779.
  15. ^"No. 44038".The London Gazette(Supplement). 30 June 1966. p. 7462.
  16. ^"No. 44076".The London Gazette(Supplement). 5 August 1966. p. 8825.
  17. ^"No. 45228".The London Gazette(Supplement). 6 November 1970. p. 12327.
  18. ^"No. 45262".The London Gazette(Supplement). 31 December 1970. p. 2.
  19. ^"No. 45886".The London Gazette(Supplement). 22 January 1973. p. 1022.
  20. ^"No. 45965".The London Gazette(Supplement). 1 May 1973. p. 5460.
  21. ^"No. 46593".The London Gazette(Supplement). 6 June 1975. p. 7373.
  22. ^"No. 47160".The London Gazette(Supplement). 1 March 1977. p. 2826.
  23. ^"No. 47567".The London Gazette.13 June 1978. p. 7153.
  24. ^"No. 47117".The London Gazette(Supplement). 10 January 1977. p. 366.
  25. ^"No. 47284".The London Gazette(Supplement). 25 July 1977. p. 9672.
Military offices
New title Assistant Chief of the General Staff
1968–1970 		Succeeded by
Preceded by GOC-in-C Northern Command
1970–1972 		Post disbanded
Preceded by Quartermaster-General to the Forces
1973–1977 		Succeeded by
Government offices
Preceded by Governor of Gibraltar
1978–1982 		Succeeded by
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