There is also John Crocker (jazz musician)

John Crocker (jazz musician)

John Crocker, born in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, was the leading clarinet and tuba player for the Chris Barber jazz band for just over 30 years, retiring February 2003. Since retiring Crocker has guested with several bands including Kenny Ball and a Ken Colyer tribute band.-References:...

.

General

General

A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

 Sir John Tredinnick Crocker GCB

Order of the Bath

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

, KBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

, DSO

Distinguished Service Order

The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...

, MC

Military Cross

The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....

 (4 January 1896 – 9 March 1963) was a British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 officer and corps

Corps

A corps is either a large formation, or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function such as Artillery or Signals representing an arm of service...

 commander during the Second World War.

First World War

Upon the outbreak of the First World War Crocker enlisted as a private

Private (rank)

A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...

 in the Artists' Rifles

Artists' Rifles

The Artists Rifles is a volunteer regiment of the British Army. Raised in London in 1859 as a volunteer light infantry unit, the regiment saw active service during the Boer Wars and World War I, earning a number of battle honours; however, it did not serve outside of Britain during World War II, as...

, a training corps for officers, before joining the Machine Gun Corps

Machine Gun Corps

The Machine Gun Corps was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in World War I. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tanks in combat, and the branch was subsequently turned into the Tank...

 (MGC) as an officer. He had a distinguished career in the war and won both the Distinguished Service Order

Distinguished Service Order

The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...

 and Military Cross

Military Cross

The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....

 with 174th Machine Gun Company of 59th Division in France.

Between the Wars

After the armistice

Armistice

An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...

, Crocker left the army to train as a solicitor

Solicitor

Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...

. However, he did not enjoy his new profession and decided to return to soldiering. After a short period as an infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 officer in the Middlesex Regiment

Middlesex Regiment

The Middlesex Regiment was a regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms when the 57th and 77th Regiments of Foot were amalgamated with the county's militia and rifle volunteer units.On 31 December 1966 The Middlesex Regiment was amalgamated with three...

, Crocker specialised in the then new field of armoured warfare

Armoured warfare

Armoured warfare or tank warfare is the use of armoured fighting vehicles in modern warfare. It is a major component of modern methods of war....

 and joined the Royal Tank Corps

Royal Tank Regiment

The Royal Tank Regiment is an armoured regiment of the British Army. It was formerly known as the Tank Corps and the Royal Tank Corps. It is part of the Royal Armoured Corps and is made up of two operational regiments, the 1st Royal Tank Regiment and the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment...

 in 1923. He held a number of both field and staff posts including Brigade Major

Brigade Major

In the British Army, a Brigade Major was the Chief of Staff of a brigade. He held the rank of Major and was head of the brigade's "G - Operations and Intelligence" section directly and oversaw the two other branches, "A - Administration" and "Q - Quartermaster"...

 to Percy Hobart

Percy Hobart

Major-General Sir Percy Cleghorn Stanley Hobart KBE CB DSO MC , also known as "Hobo", was a British military engineer, noted for his command of the 79th Armoured Division during World War II...

 and GSO1 to Alan Brooke when the latter was commanding the Mobile Division. By the time the Second World War began he was GSO1 Staff Officer in Southern Command.

Second World War

In April 1940 he was appointed to command of 3rd Armoured Brigade in the 1st Armoured Division

British 1st Armoured Division

The 1st Armoured Division is an armoured division of the British Army. Originally formed in November 1937 as the Mobile Division, it saw extensive service during the Second World War, was disbanded afterward, was reconstituted in 1976, and remains in service today...

 in France. Crocker's brigade, like much of the British Expeditionary Force

British Expeditionary Force (World War II)

The British Expeditionary Force was the British force in Europe from 1939–1940 during the Second World War. Commanded by General Lord Gort, the BEF constituted one-tenth of the defending Allied force....

 (BEF), was virtually destroyed in the Battle of France

Battle of France

In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...

 in 1940. Landed at Cherbourg as the rest of the BEF retreated to Dunkirk

Battle of Dunkirk

The Battle of Dunkirk was a battle in the Second World War between the Allies and Germany. A part of the Battle of France on the Western Front, the Battle of Dunkirk was the defence and evacuation of British and allied forces in Europe from 26 May–4 June 1940.After the Phoney War, the Battle of...

, 1st Armoured Division unsuccessfully attacked the German bridgehead

Bridgehead

A bridgehead is a High Middle Ages military term, which antedating the invention of cannons was in the original meaning expressly a referent term to the military fortification that protects the end of a bridge...

s over the River Somme before returning to Cherbourg where the remnants (including the brigade's last 13 tanks) were evacuated.

Back in Britain, Crocker was given command of the new 6th Armoured Division in September 1940, of XI Corps

XI Corps (United Kingdom)

XI Corps was an army corps of the British Army in World War I that served on the Western Front and in Italy. It was recreated as part of Home Forces defending the United Kingdom during World War II.-Western Front:...

 in East Anglia

East Anglia

East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...

 in March 1942 and then of IX Corps in September 1942, before again being sent overseas in 1943, this time to Tunisia

Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...

. Crocker showed impatience at Fondouk Pass on 8 April 1943 when his attempt to push 6th Armoured and 34th US Infantry Division though a gap ran onto hastily-prepared German defences. He was wounded in a training accident, during a demonstration of a PIAT

PIAT

The Projector, Infantry, Anti Tank was a British hand-held anti-tank weapon developed during the Second World War. The PIAT was designed in 1942 in response to the British Army's need for a more effective infantry anti-tank weapon, and entered service in 1943.The PIAT was based on the spigot...

 anti-tank weapon, shortly before the final battle for Tunis and saw no further action in North Africa

North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...

. He did, however, create something of a controversy when he criticised the performance of American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 troops to the press.

On his return to service in August 1943 he was given command of I Corps, part of Miles Dempsey

Miles Dempsey

General Sir Miles Christopher Dempsey, GBE, KCB, DSO, MC was commander of the British Second Army during the D-Day landings in the Second World War...

's Second Army

British Second Army

The British Second Army was active during both the First and Second World Wars. During the First World War the army was active on the Western Front and in Italy...

, training for Operation Overlord

Operation Overlord

Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...

, the Allied

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

 invasion of France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. Despite Crocker's background in armoured warfare, I Corps was predominantly an infantry formation, but General (later Field Marshal) Montgomery

Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein

Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, KG, GCB, DSO, PC , nicknamed "Monty" and the "Spartan General" was a British Army officer. He saw action in the First World War, when he was seriously wounded, and during the Second World War he commanded the 8th Army from...

, commanding 21st Army Group, had confidence in his organisational skills and assigned I Corps the difficult task of capturing Caen

Caen

Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....

. On D-Day

D-Day

D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...

 Crocker had a larger task than any other corps commander: he had to control two landing beaches (Juno

Juno Beach

Juno or Juno Beach was one of five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. The sector spanned from Saint-Aubin, a village just east of the British Gold sector, to Courseulles, just west of the British Sword sector...

 and Sword

Sword Beach

Sword, commonly known as Sword Beach, was the code name given to one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast during the initial assault phase, Operation Neptune, of Operation Overlord; the Allied invasion of German-occupied France that commenced on 6 June 1944...

) and an airborne assault. The fact that in spite of inevitable mishaps the landings went so well was a testimony to Crocker's planning.

However, Caen did not fall on D-Day as planned, and Crocker's corps took part in the bloody two-month Battle for Caen

Battle for Caen

The Battle for Caen from June-August 1944 was a battle between Allied and German forces during the Battle of Normandy....

, including Operation Charnwood

Operation Charnwood

Operation Charnwood was a Second World War Anglo-Canadian offensive that took place from 8–9 July 1944, during the Battle of Normandy. The operation was intended to at least partially capture the German-occupied French city of Caen , which was an important Allied objective during the opening stages...

. Coming under command of Lieutenant-General Harry Crerar

Harry Crerar

Henry Duncan Graham "Harry" Crerar CH, CB, DSO, KStJ, CD, PC was a Canadian general and the country's "leading field commander" in World War II.-Early years:...

's First Canadian Army

First Canadian Army

The First Canadian Army was the senior Canadian operational formation in Europe during the Second World War.The Army was formed in early 1942, replacing the existing unnumbered Canadian Corps, as the growing number of Canadian forces in the United Kingdom necessitated an expansion to two corps...

 in August 1944, I Corps drove to the Seine and then took part in the unglamorous mopping up operations along the French and Belgian coastline. When the final German surrender came in May 1945, I Corps was still on the south bank of the River Maas

Oude Maas

The Oude Maas is a distributary of the Rhine River, and a former distributary of the Maas River, in the Dutch province of South Holland. It begins at the city of Dordrecht where the Beneden Merwede river splits into the Noord River and the Oude Maas...

 facing the German 25th Army. Crocker's secondary role in the later months of the war was not due to any loss of confidence in him by Montgomery, but more to the fact that his only son, Wilfrid Crocker, a tank officer in the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards

5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards

The 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1922 to 1992, when it was amalgmated into the Royal Dragoon Guards.-The beginning:...

, had been killed on 20 October 1944 fighting in Holland.

Later life

In 1945 he became General Officer Commanding

General Officer Commanding

General Officer Commanding is the usual title given in the armies of Commonwealth nations to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC II Corps or GOC 7th Armoured Division...

-in-Chief Southern Command

Southern Command (United Kingdom)

-History:The Command was established in 1905 from the Second Army Corps and was initially based at Tidworth but in 1949 moved to Fugglestone Farm near Wilton in Wiltshire....

, then in 1947 he moved on to be Commander in Chief Middle East Land Forces and in 1950 his career culminating in him becoming Adjutant-General to the Forces

Adjutant-General to the Forces

The Adjutant-General to the Forces, commonly just referred to as the Adjutant-General , is one of the most senior officers in the British Army. He is in charge of administration, personnel and organisational matters. The Adjutant-General usually holds the rank of General or Lieutenant-General...

, before retiring in 1953. In 1949 Montgomery recommended Crocker to be his successor as Chief of the Imperial General Staff, but the prime minister, Clement Attlee

Clement Attlee

Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...

, appointed the better-known Sir William Slim

William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim

Field Marshal William Joseph "Bill"'Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, KG, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO, MC, KStJ was a British military commander and the 13th Governor-General of Australia....

. Crocker's most important postwar contribution was to write the training manuals that laid down the British Army's doctrine of armoured warfare through the years of the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

.

After retiring he became Vice-Chairman of the Imperial War Graves Commission and Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex

Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex

This is a list of people who served as Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex. The office was abolished on 1 April 1965, with the creation of Greater London and the post of Lord Lieutenant of Greater London, with small parts of Middlesex coming under the jurisdiction of the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey, the...

.