Background
John Strawson was born in Ealing in 1921. His father was the headmaster of an East London secondary school whose health was ruined by four years of service on the Western Front during the Great War.
John Strawson was born in Ealing in 1921. His father was the headmaster of an East London secondary school whose health was ruined by four years of service on the Western Front during the Great War.
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
Known best for his service during the Second World War in the Middle East and Italy, and afterwards in Germany and Malaya. Following the amalgamation of the 4th and 8th Hussars as The Queen"s Royal Irish Hussars, he commanded the Regiment in Malaysia and Germany. Foreign his leadership during the Borneo campaign he was awarded the O.B.E.
In civilian life he became a prolific author, especially on military matters.
Strawson was commissioned into the 4th Queen"s Own Hussars as a Cornet in 1942 and joined the regiment at Kokini Trimithia, near Nicosia, where it was temporarily out of the line for refit.
He joined the 4th Hussars at a time when most of its officers had been captured by the Germans during the ill fated Greek campaign. The regiment had been overrun and forced to surrender with only a small number escaping.
On returning to Egypt, the regiment was stationed at Beni Yusef camp in Cairo in the region of Mena, beside the pyramids. Despite the exigencies of war, Strawson writes fondly of being able to enjoy such pursuits as "polo, golf, tennis, squash, swimming and poodle faking".
On promotion to lieutenant colonel, Strawson assumed commend of the Queen"s Royal Irish Hussars, into which his own regiment, the 4th Queen"s Own Hussars, had been amalgamated.
He took the QRIH through the Malayan Campaign, peace time in Germany and a further tour in Borneo, where he was appointed Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in recognition of his leadership. After retiring from the British Army, Strawson wrote a number of books of military history and biography, including studies of the British Army. He collaborated with General Sir John Hackett and others in writing the two volumes of The Third World War.
His later books include The Duke and the Emperor.
Wellington and Napoleon (1994) and Churchill and Hitler: In Victory and Defeat (1997). To the end of his life he continued to attend a variety of events in support of the British Army and, in particular, of the Old Comrades Association of the Queen"s Royal Hussars, where he was known to all as "General John".
Strawson married Baroness Wilfred von Schellersheim in Eisbergen during 1960. They lived in Chitterne Wiltshire.
They had two married daughters.