General Sir John Mogg

Obituary from The TImes

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.

Field-Marshal Lord Carver generously said in his memoirs Out of Step (1989) that Mogg would have been the Army's choice for Chief of the General Staff when the appointment became vacant in 1971. In fact the choice fell on Carver, and Mogg had to be content with the post of Adjutant-General, followed by Deputy Supreme Allied Commander at SHAPE. Yet although he never achieved his baton, Mogg's Army career was one of unbroken success.

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 judgment 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 organise 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.

He married, in 1939, Cecilia Margaret Molesworth, who survives him with their three sons.

John Mogg

(British Army officer)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• Sir John Mogg
• Born 13 February 1913
• Died 28 October 2001 (aged 88)
• Allegiance United Kingdom
• Service/branch British Army
• Unit Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
• Commands held 9th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry
• 10th Battalion, Parachute Regiment
• RMC Sandhurst
• I Corps
• Strategic Command
• Battles/wars Second World War
• Malayan Emergency
• Awards Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
• Commander of the Order of the British Empire
• Distinguished Service Order & Ba r

General Sir Herbert John Mogg GCB, CBE, DSO & Bar (17 February 1913 – 28 October 2001) was a senior British Army officer who also held the NATO position of Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR).

Army career

He was educated at Malvern College, and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. At Malvern, he paid more attention to cricket than to his studies, with the result that, instead of taking the entrance exam for Sandhurst, he chose the alternative route of a Y-cadetship in the Coldstream Guards. After three years in the ranks, he was selected for Sandhurst, where he gained the Sword of Honour in 1936, being commissioned into the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in August 1937. He was a distinguished commander of the 9th battalion Durham Light Infantry from the Invasion of Normandy to the defeat of Germany. Mogg commanded the 10th Battalion The Parachute Regiment between 1950 and 1952. He was later a brigade commander in the Malayan Emergency before becoming Commandant of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1963 and Commander of I Corps in Germany in 1966. He went on to be General Officer Commanding Southern Command in 1968, General Officer Commanding, Army Strategic Command later that year and, finally, Adjutant-General to the Forces in 1970. With NATO, he was DSACEUR between 1973 and 1976.

He was ADC General to the Queen from 1971 to 1974, Colonel Commandant of the Royal Green Jackets from 1965 to 1973 and Commandant of the Army Air Corps from 1963 to 1974.

He was interested in many sports including boxing, cricket and equestrianism and promoted these inside the army, as well as more generally. Mogg was a president of a number of sports, army and veteran's associations. He served various charities, mostly connected with the armed services, or adventure training. Including being Chairman of Operation Drake Fellowship (now part of Fairbridge (charity) and Operation Raleigh.

He was made Vice Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire in 1979.

There was a school in Detmold, Germany, for children in pre-school and years 1–6 whose parents are serving in the British Army, that was named after Sir John Mogg. The school was opened on 10 February 1971 by him.

Personality

He has been described as a popular and affable man. The Guardian newspaper, in his obituary, sums up his personality and how it influenced what he, and those he worked with, accomplished in his career:

"John Mogg's large frame was combined with an exceptionally genial, warm and sympathetic character, which appealed not only to soldiers of all ranks, but to people in every walk of life, whatever their nationality. In his time, he was probably the British army's most popular general, and finished his career in one of Nato's most influential posts, as deputy supreme allied commander (1973–76) at headquarters at Mons, in Belgium. Here, his sound commonsense and even temperament were valuable in balancing the direct approach, and sometimes abrasive personality, of the supreme commander, the US General Alexander Haig."

Family

In 1939 he married Cecilia Margaret Molesworth and together they went on to have three sons.

From Free BMD:

• Surname First name(s) Spouse District Vol Page
• Marriages Jun 1939 (>99%)
• Mogg Herbert J Molesworth Kensington 1a 395 Scan available - click to view
• Molesworth Cecilia M Mogg Kensington 1a 395 Scan available - click to view