John Shea (Indian Army officer)

General Sir John Stuart Mackenzie Shea, GCB, KCMG, DSO (17 January 1869 – 1 May 1966) was a British officer in the Indian Army.^[1] During the First World War, he held senior commands on the Western Front and the Middle Eastern theatre.

General Sir John Shea GCB KCMG DSO
Shea in 1919
Born	17 January 1869 St John's, Newfoundland, Canada
Died	1 May 1966(1966-05-01) (aged 97) Fulham, London, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Years of service	1888–1932
Rank	General
Commands	151st Brigade 30th Division 60th Division 3rd (Indian) Division Central Provinces District Eastern Command, India
Battles / wars	Chitral Expedition Second Boer War World War I
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Distinguished Service Order

Military career

From left to right are, Sir Edmund Allenby, Rennie MacInnes, Malcolm Donald Murray, HRH the Duke of Connaught, Major General J S M Shea, Sir E S Bulfin, General Sir Harry Chauvel, Sir Philip Chetwode
(March 19, 1918).

Educated at Sedbergh School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst,^[2] Shea was commissioned into the Royal Irish Regiment as a second lieutenant in February 1888.^[3]

He was promoted to lieutenant on 11 February 1890,^[4] and the following year transferred to the Indian Army where he was posted to the 15th Bengal Lancers.^[3] He saw action with the Chitral Expedition in 1895, and was promoted to captain on 11 February 1899.^[4]

The Second Boer War started in South Africa later the same year, and Shea was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for leading 200 South Australians in a night attack on Commandant Jan Smuts's laager.^[5] For his service in the latter parts of the war, he received a brevet promotion to major on 22 August 1902.^[6] He became an instructor at the Staff College, Quetta in 1906,^[3] the same year he was promoted to major.^[7]

He was promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel in July 1912.^[8]

General Shea, with cane, and staff members at the surrender of Jerusalem. (9 December 1917)

Shea served in the First World War, initially as a staff officer, first with the British Expeditionary Force and then with the 6th Division when he succeeded Colonel William Furse as the division's GSO1, or chief of staff.^[9] In February 1915 he was made a CV.^[10] In July he was promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier general^[11] and became commander of the 50th (Northumbrian) Division's 151st (Durham Light Infantry) Brigade, a Territorial Force formation, which had recently arrived on the Western Front. He was made a brevet colonel in January 1916^[12] and a temporary major general in May^[13] and became general officer commanding of the 30th Division, a Kitchener's Army formation, which he led in the Battle of the Somme later that year. After being promoted to substantive major general in March 1917,^[14] GOC 60th (2/2nd London) Division in Palestine in August 1917.^[3] He commanded the division at the Battle of Mughar Ridge in November 1917, at the Battle of Jerusalem in December 1917 and at the First Battle of Amman in March 1918.^[15] On 9 December 1917 he received the keys of the city of Jerusalem, an act symbolising its surrender by the mayor Hussein al-Husayni, after many other generals refused to take this responsibility.^[16] He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1919 New Year Honours.^[17]

After the War he became a corps commander in Palestine in 1918, GOC 3rd (Indian) Division in 1919 and, promoted in January 1921 to lieutenant general,^[18] became GOC Central Provinces District in India in 1921.^[3] He relinquished this position in January 1923^[19] and went on to be adjutant general, India in 1924 and, after relinquishing this appointment,^[20] General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command, India in 1928 before retiring from the army in 1932.^[3]

In retirement, he served as the Commissioner for London Boy Scouts from 1936 to 1948.^[21]