John Whiteley (British Army officer)

Sir John Whiteley
General Sir John Whiteley.
Nickname(s)	"Jock"[1]
Born	(1896-06-07)7 June 1896
Died	20 May 1970(1970-05-20) (aged 73)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	British Army
Years of service	1915–1956
Rank	General
Service number	10235
Unit	Royal Engineers
Commands	National Defence College, Canada Canadian Army Staff College
Battles / wars	First World War Salonika campaign Sinai and Palestine campaign Second World War Western Desert campaign Battle of Greece Operation Torch Tunisian campaign Allied invasion of Sicily Allied invasion of Italy Operation Overlord Siegfried Line Campaign Battle of the Bulge Western Allied invasion of Germany
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Military Cross Mentioned in Despatches Distinguished Service Medal (United States) Legion of Merit (United States)

General Sir John Francis Martin Whiteley, GBE, KCB, MC (7 June 1896 – 20 May 1970) was a senior British Army officer who became Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff (DCIGS). A career soldier, Whiteley was commissioned into the Royal Engineers from the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich in 1915 during the First World War. During the war he served in Salonika and the Middle East.

In May 1940, during the Second World War, he was posted to General Headquarters (GHQ) Middle East in Cairo as Brigadier, General Staff (BGS) (Operations) under General Sir Archibald Wavell. In March 1942 he became chief of staff of the British Eighth Army, participating in the Battle of Gazala and the First Battle of El Alamein. In September 1942 Whiteley joined Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower's Allied Force Headquarters (AFHQ) as the British Deputy Chief of Staff. When Eisenhower was appointed Supreme Allied Commander for Operation Overlord in January 1944, Whiteley was one of three key British staff officers Eisenhower brought to England to staff the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF). Whiteley initially became Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence (G-2) at SHAEF before becoming deputy to the Assistant Chief of Staff, Operations (G-3), Major General Harold R. Bull in May 1944.

After a few months in Germany as Assistant Chief of Staff in the Control Commission, Whiteley was appointed Army Instructor at the Imperial Defence College to initiate the post-war courses under General Sir William Slim as commandant. In 1947 Whiteley was selected for an exchange of appointments with Canada, and became Commandant of the Royal Military College of Canada. He was DCIGS under Slim from 1949 until 1953, when he was promoted to full general, and took up his last appointment, as chairman of the British Joint Services Mission, Washington, D.C., and UK Representative on the NATO Standing Group from 1953 to 1956.