John Aldan Aizlewood was
commissioned into the
4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards on 12 August 1914. He served in the
First World War on the
Western Front and was awarded the
Military Cross (MC) and
Bar while serving with the
Machine Gun Corps. The Bar to his MC, awarded in June, reads: After the war, Aizlewood became a
brigade major in India in 1927 He was promoted colonel 1 August 1939 with seniority 25 May that year. Aizlewood also served in the
Second World War, initially becoming commander of the
3rd (Meerut) Cavalry Brigade in 1939. In August 1941 as part of Paiforce (formerly
Iraqforce), Brigadier Aizlewood commanded
Hazelforce and the
2nd Indian Armoured Brigade Group during the
Anglo-Soviet invasion of Persia. He moved on to be commander of the
30th Armoured Brigade in August 1942 and then took responsibility for completing the conversion of the
42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division into a mechanised unit as the
42nd Armoured Division in December 1942. Returning to the United Kingdom, Aizlewood was appointed commander of Essex and Suffolk District in late 1943 and acting
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief for
Eastern Command in 1944 while Sir
Alan Cunningham was away: he retired 9 May 1945 as an honorary major general. In retirement he was Colonel of the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards from 1948 to 1958. ==References==