General Sir John Mogg

From: Jim Webster (jimweb@simonides.org)
Date: Wed Oct 31 2001 - 11:50:46 PST


Apologies for including this if you are not interested. When he was in
his late 70s/early 80s Sir John was asked, by a very inexperienced
journalist, what he thought of the 'lunatic fringe who persisted in
dressing up in military uniform and riding around the countryside in
restored military vehicles.' He gazed down the reporter, transfixed her
with a stare usually reserved for the most incompetent person under his
command, and replied "Young lady every single one of those vehicles and
people is a living memorial to those soldiers who died so that you now
have the freedom to ask stupid [a few words deleted] questions like
that. I admire them and congratulate them on what they do and as soon as
I retire I have a mind to get myself something big and green and join
this so called lunatic fringe"

He never did manage to retire....

GENERAL SIR JOHN MOGG
        RIP
A Salute to a Great Soldier

GENERAL SIR JOHN MOGG, who has died aged 88, began his military career
in the ranks of the Coldstream Guards and became one of the outstanding
soldiers of his generation.

Herbert John Mogg was born in Canada on February 17 1913, the son of
Captain H B Mogg, MC, who had gone to Canada to farm but returned to
fight in the Great War. After he was wounded, the family went back to
Canada, but returned again to England in the 1920s in time for John to
go to Malvern. There he distinguished himself more as a cricketer than
as a scholar, and it was thought that he might have difficulty passing
the Sandhurst entrance examination. In 1933, therefore, he enlisted in
the Coldstream Guards.

After two years in the ranks, reaching lance-corporal, he entered
Sandhurst as a gentleman cadet; on passing out in 1937 he was awarded
the Sword of Honour - his fellow cadets had long deemed this a foregone
conclusion. He was commissioned into the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire
Light Infantry (43rd and 52nd) that August.

During the Second World War, Mogg became Commander of a Divisional
Battle School before taking command of the 9th Battalion Durham Light
Infantry for the North West Europe campaign. An outstanding and popular
battalion commander, he was awarded the DSO twice in 1944. In 1945 he
attended the Staff College as a student. Then, after two years as GSO1
of 7th Armoured Division, he returned to the Staff College as a member
of the Directing Staff.

In 1950 Mogg assumed command of the 10th Parachute Battalion, then in
1952 became Chief Instructor at the School of Infantry at Warminster.
 From 1954 to 1956 he was GSO1 at the Imperial Defence College and then
from 1958 to 1960 was Commander of the Commonwealth Brigade Group in
Malaya, where he received the Meritorious Medal from the Sultan of Perak
and the enthusiastic support of the Australian and New Zealand units in
his brigade. On his appointment as Director of Combat Development at the
War Office he was promoted to major-general.

 From 1963 to 1966 Mogg was Commandant of the Royal Military Academy at
Sandhurst. This is a post which requires considerable judgement and
diplomacy not merely in approving cadets as being suitable for
commissioning but also in dealing with the changing requirements of Army
policy. It also requires the administration of a large military and
civilian staff, and liaison with schools, universities, regiments and
foreign dignitaries. Mogg earned widespread admiration for the way he
listened to many voices and invariably made the right decisions.

After Sandhurst he was Commander, 1st British Corps in Germany
(1966-68), GOC in C Southern Command (1968), GOC in C Army Strategic
Command (1968-70), and Adjutant-General at the Ministry of Defence
(Army) (1970-73). It was not an easy time to be Adjutant-General. The
troubles in Northern Ireland were at their height, and Mogg had to
contend with the media portraying night after night the scenes of
violence, by no means always to the Army's advantage. He saw to it that
all key personnel received instruction in how to handle television
reporters prior to going to Northern Ireland, an arrangement that was to
prove most valuable in the long run.

His final appointment was as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander, Europe,
from 1973 to 1976. He established a particularly close and successful
relationship with the American Supreme Allied Commander, General
Alexander Haig, who relied greatly on Mogg's wide military experience.
Later, during the Falklands War, Haig, then Secretary of State, made
little attempt to conceal his pro-British sympathies.

Mogg's other appointments included being ADC General to the Queen
(1971-74); Commandant of the Army Air Corps (1963-74), of the Royal
Green Jackets(1965-73); and Honorary Colonel of the 10th Parachute
Battalion, TA, (1973-78).

He also took a leading part in many ancillary activities. In 1969 he was
chosen as Kermit Roosevelt lecturer to visit the United States and give
lectures at the leading American military academies - a distinction
reserved for outstanding generals from Britain and America.

Mogg was President of the Army Cricket Association and his all-round
sporting interests were reflected in his presidency of the Army Saddle
Club, Army Boxing Association, Army Parachute Association, and British
Horse Society. He was also Chairman of the Army Free Fall Parachute
Association and of Operation Drake for Young Explorers and the Operation
Drake Fellowship, the latter two of which organize adventurous
exploration, archaeological and scientific research expeditions to
remote parts of the globe. He was also Vice-President of Operation Raleigh.

A humane and compassionate man, he was also President of the Ex-Service
Mental Welfare Society, the Normandy Veterans' Association, and the Army
Benevolent Fund. His interest in education was shown in his chairmanship
of the governors of the Royal Soldiers' Daughters School and of Icknield
School, as well as in his presence on the governing bodies of his old
school, Malvern, and of Bradfield College. He also contrived to be a
farmer, a helicopter pilot, and an extremely enthusiastic and able
fly-fisherman.

John Mogg was a large man in every sense. Tall and heavily built, he
always paid close attention to what someone was saying, ready with help
and often a joke. His special gift was to appear to have the leisure to
deal with any problem or request, although few people can have led such
a busy life.

Since 1979 he had been Vice Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire. He was
appointed CBE in 1960, CB in 1964, KCB in 1966 and GCB in 1972.

TTFN
Jim
ICQ: 58721472
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