| John Utterson-Kelso | |
| Birth Date: | 16 May 1893[1] |
| Death Date: | 1972 (aged 78–79) |
| Allegiance: | United Kingdom |
| Branch: | British Army |
| Serviceyears: | 1912–1946 |
| Servicenumber: | 4982 |
| Rank: | Major General |
| Unit: | Royal Scots Fusiliers Devonshire Regiment |
| Commands: | 76th Infantry Division (1944) 47th (London) Infantry Division (1941–42; 1944–45) 131st (Surrey) Infantry Brigade (1939–41) 2nd Battalion, Devonshire Regiment (1937–39) |
| Battles: | First World War Second World War |
| Awards: | Companion of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order & Bar Officer of the Order of the British Empire Military Cross & Bar Mentioned in Despatches |
Major General John Edward Utterson-Kelso, (1893–1972) was a British Army officer.
Educated at Haileybury College,[2] Utterson-Kelso entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, from where he was commissioned into the Royal Scots Fusiliers on 4 September 1912.
He saw service during the First World War, which began in the summer of 1914, for which he was awarded the Military Cross (MC) and, in September 1917, received a Bar to his MC, with the Bar's citation reading:
Utterson-Kelso was also wounded five times, mentioned in despatches and awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). The citation for his DSO reads:
Utterson-Kelso was later awarded a Bar to his DSO, with the Bar's citation reading:
Utterson-Kelso became an instructor at the Small Arms School in 1928, commander of the Lines of Communications Troops in Palestine and Transjordan in 1936 and commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion, the Devonshire Regiment in 1937.[2]
He went on to be commander of the 131st (Surrey) Infantry Brigade, part of the 44th (Home Counties) Division, in November 1939, two months after the outbreak of the Second World War, and landed in France with his brigade on 3 April 1940 to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF).[3] After taking part in the Dunkirk evacuation just a few weeks later,[4] he continued to command the brigade until March 1941. From April 1941 he relinquished command of the brigade and, after being promoted to the acting rank of major general, served as General Officer Commanding (GOC) 47th (London) Infantry Division until April 1942.[5] While in that position he became the first divisional GOC to incorporate battle drill into the training of units and higher formations.
This so impressed General Sir Bernard Paget, soon to be the Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces, that he made Utterson-Kelso as head of the infantry branch of the Directorate of Military Training at Headquarters Home Forces, holding this post until January 1944.[6] He became GOC 76th Infantry Division in March 1944,[7] before returning to his role as GOC 47th (London) Infantry Division in September 1944; he remained in that role until the end of the war.[8]
|- |-
. David Fraser (British Army officer). 1983. And We Shall Shock Them: The British Army in the Second World War. Cassell military. 978-0-304-35233-3. 30.