Groups and Single Decorations for Gallantry


Sir Gordon Nevil Macready, Bt., was born in Kandy, Ceylon, on 5 April 1891, the son of General Sir Nevil Macready, 1st Baronet, G. C.M.G., K.C.B., who served as Adjutant-General of the B.E.F. in 1914. Educated at Cheltenham and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, he was Commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on 23 December 1910, and was promoted Lieutenant on 21 December 1912. Following the outbreak of the Great War he joined the B.E.F in France on 23 August 1914- initially serving with 7 Field Company, R.E., his Medal Index Card notes him as serving as an A.D.C. to the commander of the 1st Division, 22 November 1914. Appointed temporary Captain, Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General, on 12 January 1916, he was awarded the M.C. three days later and confirmed in the rank of Captain on 23 December 1916. Serving with the 66th Division from 1917, he was advanced Brevet Major on 4 June 1917. For his services during the Great War he was awarded both the D.S.O. and O.B.E., and was five times Mentioned in Despatches (London Gazette 1 January 1916, 4 January 1917, 15 May 1917, 11 December 1917, and 20 May 1918 ).


In 1919, Macready served as Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster-General at the Supreme War Council at Versailles, before being appointed Assistant Adjutant General for the British Military Mission to Berlin, where he was reportedly one of the first British officers to enter Berlin, arriving well ahead of the British diplomatic representatives. From October 1919 until 1920 he served as chief of the Polish Police Mission, organising the police force of the revived Polish State. Promoted Major on 10 August 1926 and appointed Assistant Secretary to the Committee of Imperial Defence, he was Breveted Lieutenant-Colonel on 7 January 1929, promoted Colonel on 4 July 1934, and Temporary Brigadier on 10 January 1936. That latter year he served as Deputy Director of Staff Duties at the War Office. Promoted Major-General and Head of the British Military Mission to Egypt on 29 September 1938, he advised ‘on defence measures and spent two fruitful years there, which proved the value of his services after the campaign in the Western Desert.’


Returning to London on 15 October 1940, Macready served as Assistant Chief of the Imperial General Staff in Whitehall until he was appointed Chief of British Army Staff, Washington D.C. on 16 June 1942. Having been promoted Acting Lieutenant-General on 19 December 1941 and Temporary Lieutenant-General the following December, he served in Washington until the end of the war in Europe, when he then took part in the Combined Chiefs of Staff discussions at the Potsdam Conference, Germany, from July to August 1945. For his services during the Second War, he received the following awards from the Allies: United States of America, Commander of the Legion of Merit; France, Commander of the Legion of Honour; Netherlands, Grand Cross of Order of Orange Nassau.


Retiring from the Army in January 1946, Macready succeeded to the Baronetcy upon the death of his father on 9 January of that year, and was soon after appointed Regional Civil Commissioner for Lower Saxony and was granted the honorary rank of Lieutenant-General on 6 September 1946. His last appointments were as British Chairman of the Economic Control Office for the British and American Zones of Germany in 1947 and then as Economic Adviser to UK High Commissioner in Germany between 1949 and 1951. He additionally served as Colonel Commandant, Royal Engineers, 1946 until his death in Paris on 17 October 1956.


Lieutenant-General Macready was author of ‘In the Wake of the Great’, published after his death, this covers both world wars and gives an insight into behind the scenes planning of the high command.


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