Sir John Smyth , 1st Baronet Brigadier Sir John George Smyth , 1st Baronet , VC MC PC ( 25 October 1893 – 26 April 1983 ) was a British Indian Army officer and Conservative Member of Parliament . Although a recipient of the Victoria Cross , his army career ended in controversy . Early life and army career . " Jackie " Smyth was educated at Dragon School , Repton and the Royal Military College , Sandhurst . He was 21 years old , and a lieutenant in the 15th Ludhiana Sikhs , 3rd ( Lahore ) Division , Indian Army during the First World War . In June 1915 Smyth was awarded the Victoria Cross , the United Kingdom ' s highest award for bravery in combat . The citation for this award , published in the London Gazette read : During the First World War he was also awarded the Russian Order of St . George Fourth Class . In September 1920 , when brigade major in the 43rd Indian Infantry Brigade , Smyth was awarded the MC for distinguished service in the field in Waziristan . The citation for this award , published in the London Gazette , read : In 1923 , while serving in India , Smyth played two first - class cricket matches for the Europeans team . An early appointment as an instructor at the Staff College in Camberley in 1930 indicated that Smyth ' s career was on the fast track . He managed to persuade the CIGS to give him an undertaking that he would be given a brigade to command in the UK should hostilities break out . Having managed to engineer leave from India to the UK in summer 1939 , he called in his debt but was disappointed to be seconded to a UK - based staff job . Second World War . In February 1940 , after further lobbying , Smyth was appointed to command the 127th Infantry Brigade which from April he led in France as part of the British Expeditionary Force . After evacuation from Dunkirk , he continued to command the brigade in Britain until he was summoned to return to India in March 1941 . After briefly commanding Indian 36th Infantry brigade in Quetta and a period of sick leave , Smyth took command of Indian 19th Infantry Division as an acting major - general in October but was re - assigned to command Indian 17th Infantry Division in December . Controversy surrounds his handling of 17th Indian Division in February 1942 during its retreat across the Sittang river in Burma . It was said that he failed to expedite a strong bridgehead on the enemy ' s side of the river and was forced , when it came under threat from the Japanese , to order the blowing of the bridge while two - thirds of his division were still on the far side with no other means of crossing the river and therefore dooming them . 17th Division were the only formation standing between the Japanese and Rangoon and this loss therefore led directly to the loss of Rangoon and Lower Burma . The Commander - in - Chief , India , General Sir Archibald Wavell was furious and sacked Smyth on the spot . Smyth received no further posts and returned to the United Kingdom to retire with a substantive rank of colonel and honorary rank of brigadier . It took 16 years and revision of the Official History before his version of the affair versus that of General Hutton , his corps commander , was clarified . Smyth ' s book ' Milestones ' 1979 gives his version in which he relates that he had made representations to General Hutton 10 days previously recommending a withdrawal to the West bank of the Sittang River thus permitting a strong defence line to be established . His recommendation was refused . Post war career . Smyth went into politics and stood unsuccessfully against Ernest Bevin in Wandsworth at the 1945 general election . At the 1950 election , he defeated the sitting Labour MP for UK Parliament constituency . He was made a baronet 23 January 1956 with the style Sir John George Smyth , VC , MC , 1st Baronet Smyth of Teignmouth in the County of Devon and a Privy Counsellor in 1962 . Smyth was also an author , a playwright , a journalist and a broadcaster . His two brothers were distinguished soldiers , one of whom also became a brigadier . He married twice : firstly Margaret Dundas on 22 July 1920 , later dissolved , with whom he had three sons and a daughter ; and then Frances Read on 12 April 1940 . One of his sons , Capt . John Lawrence Smyth , 1st Battalion , The Queen ' s Royal Regiment ( West Surrey ) , was killed on 7 May 1944 , during the first attack on Jail Hill at the Battle of Kohima . Smyth was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium . His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Imperial War Museum .