Just a stab at this point (I'll dig more later) and my guess is Sir Ronald Adam. He was GOC Northern Command in 1940-41 then Adjutant General 1941-46.
from the National Portrait Gallery http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw108819/Sir-Ronald-Forbes-Adam-2nd-Bt
Yes, I think that you are right about Sir Ronald Adam - who was quite the unsung hero of the war too. He took on the military establishment in an effort to improve the quality of British Officers and his War Office Selection Board is still largely the same process as his vision created in 1941. That is some achievement. Regards FdeP
Sir Ronald Adam - is this what you are after?? pictures are available via the link, they have not pasted into this posting. TD http://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_A04.html Adam, Sir Ronald Forbes "Bill"; 2nd Baronet Eldest son (with two brothers and one sister) of Sir Frank Forbes Adam, 1st Bt (1846-1926), and Rose Frances Kemball (1863-1944), of Pownall House, Wilmslow, Cheshire. Succeeded father, 22.12.1926. Married (07.01.1915, Maidenhead district, Berkshire) Anna Dorothy Pitman (04.08.1892 - 02.05.1972), daughter (with one sister) of Frederick Islay Pitman (1862-1942), and Helen Isabel Jamieson (1866?-1944), of Braymead, Bray, Berkshire; four daughters. 30.10.1885 Bombay, India - 26.12.1982 Faygate, Sussex [buried at St Mary Magdalene churchyard, Rusper, near Horsham, Sussex] 2nd Lt. 27.07.1905 [1632] Lt. 27.07.1908 Capt. 30.10.1914 Maj. 14.11.1916 T/Lt.Col. 01.01.1923-30.12.1925 Bt. Lt.Col. 01.07.1926 Col. 09.10.1932, seniority 01.07.1930 T/Brig. 01.10.1936-23.09.1937 T/Maj.Gen. 24.09.1937-17.12.1937 Maj.Gen. 18.12.1937 T/Lt.Gen. 03.01.1938-23.10.1938 Lt.Gen. 24.10.1938 Gen. 12.04.1942 (supernumerary 30.10.1945) (retd 15.07.1946) GCB 01.01.1946 New Year 46 KCB 01.07.1941 HM's birthday 41 CB 02.01.1939 New Year 39 DSO 03.06.1918 Italy OBE 03.06.1919 HM's birthday 19: North Russia MID 30.05.1918 ? MID 06.01.1919 ? MID 05.06.1919 ? MID 20.12.1940 France 03-06.40 1914 Star & Clasp; British War Medal; Victory Medal Education: Fonthill, East Grinstead, Sussex; Eton College (1898.3-1902.3); Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; Staff College, Camberley (1920-1921); Hon. LLD (Aberdeen); idc. psc. 27.07.1905 commissioned, Royal Regiment of Artillery 1914 - 1918 served World War I (France & Belgium 26.09.1914-05.09.1916 & 11.05.1917-10.11.1917, Italy 11.11.1917-04.11.1918) (despatches, DSO, OBE) 08.07.1915 - 18.10.1915 Adjutant, ... 11.03.1918 - 17.04.1918 Brigade Major (Staff Officer RA) (Italy) 18.04.1918 - 08.10.1918 Brigade Major, RA (Italy) 09.10.1918 - 26.04.1919 General Staff Officer, 2nd grade (GSO2), RA (Italy) 21.06.1919 - 15.01.1920 Brigade Major, RA (Bordon) 01.04.1922 - 31.12.1922 General Staff Officer, 3rd grade (GSO3), War Office (London) 01.01.1923 - 30.12.1925 General Staff Officer, 2nd grade (GSO2), Staff College, Camberley 19.01.1927 - 18.01.1931 General Staff Officer, 2nd grade (GSO2), War Office (London) 09.10.1932 - 18.01.1935 General Staff Officer, 1st grade (GSO1) [Instructor], Staff College, Camberley 19.01.1935 - 30.09.1936 General Staff Officer, 1st grade (GSO1), War Office (London) 01.10.1936 - 13.11.1936 Deputy Director of Military Operations, War Office (London) 14.11.1936 - 23.09.1937 Commander Royal Artillery, 1st Division (Aldershot Command, UK) 24.09.1937 - 02.01.1938 Commandant (Major-General, General Staff), Staff College, Camberley 03.01.1938 - 24.10.1939 Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff, War Office (London) 25.10.1939 - 07.06.1940 General Officer Commanding, III Corps (UK, France & Belgium) 08.06.1940 - 02.06.1941 General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command (UK, [York]) 03.06.1941 - 1946 Adjutant-General to the Forces, War Office (London) Colonel Commandant, Royal Army Dental Corps (Representative 1950), 1945-1951. Colonel Commandant, Royal Artillery, 05.09.1940-1950. Colonel Commandant, Army Educational Corps, 23.10.1940-1950. Honorary Fellow, Worcester College, Oxford; President, United Nations Association. President: MCC, 1946-47; Library Association, 1949; National Instititute of Adult Education, 1949-64; Chairman: Linoleum Working Party, 1946; National Institute Industrial Psychology, 1947-52; Council, Institute of Education, London University, 1948-67; Member, Miners Welfare Commission, 1946-52; Chairman and Director-General, British Council, 1946-54; Executive Board UNESCO, 1950-54, Chairman, 1952-54; Principal, Working Men's College, 1956-61.
I've just reviewed Roger Broad's biography of Adam ('The Radical General') for the National Army Museum, and indeed he was acutely aware that this was a citizen Army of temporary soldiers for the duration, not a recruitment pool for a post-war Army - and shook up selection procedures to make sure that skills fitted need (even if the individual didn't know it). There was a music hall joke in 1940.... "They asked me what I did in civvy street... I said I was a plumber, so they asked me to weld some pipes. I did; they said they were the best they'd ever seen.... so they made me a cook" Churchill tried to sack him three times; on the last attempt Alanbrooke said that he would remain CIGS for as long as Adam was AG. Point taken. Adam's professional and personal friendship with Brooke was critical... Mind you, one proposal he made really upset the Army; that the soldiers of a battalion should be allowed to nominate candidates from amongst the NCOs for officer training. How.... how.... socialist! Bernard Paget, no slouch as a trainer himself and friendly towards Adam personally, described him as 'a menace to morale.'
Thanks for all the replies. I agree its Sir Ronald Adam. I found the link to the National Portrait museum, about half an hour after I'd posted the thread, going down the possible GOC Northern Command candidates, and was unable to delete the thread. Thanks again
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7401935 Reference: WO 373/148/224 Description: Name Adam, Sir Ronald Forbes Rank: General Regiment: British Army Theatre of Combat or Operation: Foreign to British: USA Date of announcement in London Gazette: 14 November 1947
THE BRITISH ARMY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM 1939-45 Object description: Commander in Chief Home Forces, General Sir Alan Brooke, during a visit to Northern Command with the Commander in Chief, Sir Ronald Adam, conferring round a 6 inch Coastal Defence Gun, August 1940. Catalogue number: H 3075
I admit my ignorance of this British officer, though eons ago I did read book(s) about his boss, General Alanbrooke. "Into the breach" then scanning Twitter I spot a link to an excellent IMHO explanation of morale in war, even if being topical it tries to contrast two different wars and commanders: Alanbrooke vs Gerasimov: Morale Crisis Redux » Wavell Room Near the start are two passages:
Posted this before somewhere: Ronald Forbes Adam - Wikipedia Extracted From above: "Even more controversial was Adam's championing of the Army Bureau of Current Affairs (ABCA), which produced fortnightly pamphlets on current developments to provide officers with material for compulsory discussion groups with their men" Lt Bill Beadle mentions this in a letter from Tunisia November 1943. There seems little to answer in your letter except that my new troop commander has bedded down nicely and is in many ways better than the old, though he talks a hell of a lot and gets rather wearisome at times. For this reason however he is particularly good at imparting information to the troops and our ABCA afternoons go with a great swing. This week the subjects were Architecture, History of, and Brains Trust No3. The B.T. works on the established principles, with questions by gun-subsections to the assembled officers of the troop.
Associated fact: The new Troop Commander was Capt Kenneth Jupp. Later Major Kenneth Jupp Kt. MC (Anzio). Transferred to 19th Field Regt. Wounded and repatriated to the UK. He became a member of the Army Selection Board presumably under Command of Ronald Forbes Adam.
