HAYDON, Joseph Charles
Rank:
Major General
Unit / Base:
Special Service (Commando) Group, Brigade, and Brigade Signals
Regiment/Corps:
Irish Guards
Service:
Army
Number:
13865
Honours & Awards:
Born:
Tuesday, April 18, 1899
Died :
Sunday, November 8, 1970
Second Lieutenant Joseph Charles Haydon was commissioned into the Irish Guards 21 December 1917 [1]. On the 8th June 1939 now a Major, and Military Assistant to the Secretary of State for War, he was appointed O.B.E. [2]. Promoted Brigadier he became the first commander of the Special Service Brigade in 1940, and later Vice Chief of Combined Operations in 1942. He remained as such until leaving the Special Service Brigade shortly after its restructuring in August 1943 [3].
Service History
Served with the Irish Guards on the Western Front, 1917 - 1918, and in the interwar period; as Military Assistant to the Secretary of State for War, 1938 - 1939; as Commanding Officer, 2nd Battalion Irish Guards, 1939 - 1940, during which time he was involved with the operations at the Hook of Holland and Boulogne in May 1940; as commander of the Special Service Brigade (Commandos), 1940 - 1942, including the Commando raids on the Norwegian Lofoten and Vaagso Islands in 1941; as Vice Chief Combined Operations, 1942 - 1943; as commander of 1st Guards Brigade in Italy, 1944; as Army Director of Plans with the Combined Chiefs of Staff in Washington DC, 1944 - 1945; with the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Australia, 1946 - 1947; and as Chief of the Intelligence Division, Control Commission for Germany, 1948 - 1950 [4].
- 22 October 1940 (Lt. Col) appointed D.S.O. [5].
- 27 May 1941 (Lt. Col) Mentioned in Despatches [6].
-
Bar to the D.S.O. (Brigadier) in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in-successful combined operations, against the enemy at Vaagso and Maaloy [7].
-
1 January 1948 (Maj. Gen) appointed C.B. [8].
-
9 Feb 1951 (Maj. Gen) retired from service [9].
Sources
[1] London Gazette 30438, page 13335.
[2] London Gazette 34633, page 3859.
[3] Private papers of Maj Gen Sir Robert Laycock - Liddell Hart Collection Kings College.
[4] Private papers of Maj Gen J.C. Haydon - IWM Catalogue number Documents.2397
[5] London Gazette 34975, page 6114.
[6] London Gazette 35172, page 3003.
[7] London Gazette 35510, page 1505.
[8] London Gazette 38161, page 4.
[9] London Gazette 39143, page 711.
[Image 1] Image © Illustrated London News Group, published 13 Apr. 1946.
[Image 2] Lt JC Haydon Irish Gds 1st Bn 1918 © IWM (HU 115368).
Photo of Commando in Gallery:
Yes
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