John Sharp (British Army officer)

General Sir John Aubrey Taylor Sharp KCB MC & Bar (6 September 1917 – 15 January 1977) was a British Army officer who achieved high office in the 1970s.

Sir John Sharp
Birth name	John Aubrey Taylor Sharp
Born	(1917-09-06)6 September 1917 Blaby, Leicestershire, England
Died	15 January 1977(1977-01-15) (aged 59) Oslo, Norway
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1938–1977
Rank	General
Service number	76719
Unit	Royal Artillery
Commands held	1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery 11th Infantry Brigade 2nd Infantry Division Staff College, Camberley I Corps Allied Forces Northern Europe
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Military Cross and Bar

Military career

Sharp was educated at Repton School and Jesus College, Cambridge.[1] He was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1938.[2] He served in World War II with 5th Medium Regiment and then with 4th Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery.[2] Along with many other officers he was awarded the Military Cross in 1942[3] and a bar to the MC in 1943, both "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the Middle East."[4] He went to the Staff College at Quetta in India in 1944 and then became Personal Liaison Officer to Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery in 1945.[2]

After the War he became an Instructor at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst in 1947 advancing to Military Assistant to the Commander-in-Chief, Far East Land Forces in 1955.[2]

He became Commanding Officer 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery in 1959 and Commander 11th Infantry Brigade Group in 1961.[2] He went to the Imperial Defence College in 1963 and then became Commandant of the Royal School of Artillery at Larkhill in 1964.[2] He was appointed General Officer Commanding 2nd Division within British Army of the Rhine in 1966 and Commandant of the Staff College, Camberley in 1967.[2]

He was General Officer Commanding I Corps in 1970, Military Secretary in 1972 and lastly Commander-in-Chief, Allied Forces Northern Europe from 1974 up to his death in Oslo on 15 January 1977. In that capacity he had to deal with threats to Europe's Northern Flank from the Soviet Union.[5]

Cricket

Sharp played first-class cricket for Leicestershire and Cambridge University in five matches between 1937 and 1946.[6] His father, Aubrey Sharp, was a cricketer of greater renown, appearing in first-class cricket for Leicestershire between 1908 and 1935 and captaining the team in 1921 and part of 1922.[7]

References

1. SHARP, Gen. Sir John (Aubrey Taylor), Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2016 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2014)
2. Sir John (Aubrey Taylor) Sharp Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
3. "No. 35665". The London Gazette. 11 August 1942. p. 3544.
4. "No. 36138". The London Gazette. 17 August 1943. p. 3721.
5. NATO's Northern Flank: The Growing Soviet Threat 1 May 1979
6. "Player Profile: John Sharp". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
7. "First-class Batting and Fielding in each season by Aubrey Sharp". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 31 August 2013.

Military offices
Preceded by Norman Wheeler	GOC 2nd Division 1966−1967	Succeeded by Chandos Blair
Preceded by Mervyn Butler	Commandant of the Staff College, Camberley 1967−1970	Succeeded by Allan Taylor
Preceded by Sir Mervyn Butler	GOC 1st (British) Corps 1970−1971	Succeeded by Sir Roland Gibbs
Preceded by Sir Thomas Pearson	Military Secretary 1972−1974	Succeeded by Sir Patrick Howard-Dobson
Preceded by Sir Thomas Pearson	C-in-C Allied Forces Northern Europe 1974−1977	Succeeded by Sir Peter Whiteley