Background
He was born at Thurso. Caithness, 10 Jan 1894.
He was born at Thurso. Caithness, 10 Jan 1894.
In 1915, he was commissioned into the Royal Horse Artillery.
On the first day of war in 1914 he enlisted in the Honourable Artillery Co and a year later was commissioned from Woolwich and ordered to the western front. In 1916 he survived two wounds, one requiring ayear’s convalescence. By war’s end he was a captain in the Royal Horse Arty and a recipient of the MC. Between the wars he was known as a first-class rider, huntsman, and polo player.
When Graziani advanced toward Egypt in Sep 1940, Jock had recently been promoted from command of a 4th Royal Horse Arty (RHA) battery to head the regiment. Alternating between command of the 4th and the 3d, Campbell was a master of delaying tactics. During the retreat Campbell was appointed to the DSO, and for action on 14 Dec 1940, as Lt Gen Richard O’Connor began his counteroffensive, he won a bar to his DSO.
Campbell was promoted to brigadier on 3 Sep 1941 and given command of the 7th Support Gp, which screened vast expanses of desert while the 8th Army regrouped. The innovative gunner created the famous “Jock columns,” small, mobile task forces of field artillery, anti-tank guns, antiaircraft guns, and motorized infantry. “They could not hold ground against a determined attack and had to depend on their mobility to ride such blows.. . . But they did appeal to the privateering instinct of British officers, who enjoyed commanding them”. Brigadier Campbell won the VC for action at Sidi Rezegh, 21-22 Nov 1941. On 26 Feb 1942, shortly after promotion to major general commanding the 7th Armd Div (“Desert Rats”), Campbell was killed near Halfaya Pass when his staff car skidded and overturned.
In 1922 he married a grand-niece of Cecil Rhodes.