George Giffard General Sir George James Giffard GCB DSO ( 1886 – 1964 ) was a British military officer , who had a distinguished career in command of African troops in the Great War , rising to command an Army Group in South East Asia in the Second World War . Early career . After attending Rugby School and the Royal Military College , Sandhurst , he was commissioned into the Queen ' s Royal West Surrey Regiment in 1906 . In 1913 , while serving with its 1st Battalion , he saw action in East Africa . He transferred into a unit of the King ' s African Rifles . He served in World War I . His unit saw extensive service in the East African campaign against the German forces under von Lettow - Vorbeck . He rose to command a column of two battalions of the KAR , " Gifcol " . Although von Lettow - Vorbeck ' s forces were never rounded up , Gifcol was nevertheless the most effective unit involved in the efforts to pursue and hound them . Giffard was wounded , was awarded the DSO and was mentioned in despatches four times . After the war , Giffard attended the Staff College , Camberley from 1919 to 1920 . On graduating , he joined the Royal West African Frontier Force . In 1927 he participated in the Shanghai Expeditionary Force as the Second - in - Command of 1st Bn , the Queen ' s Royal West Surrey Regiment . The following year , he was appointed an Instructor at the Staff College , Camberley , and then became Commanding Officer of 2nd Bn , the Queen ' s Royal Surrey Regiment at Aldershot in 1931 . In 1933 he became a General Staff Officer , Grade 1 ( GSO1 ) ( effectively the Chief of Staff ) of the British 2nd Division . He returned to service in West Africa in 1936 , when he was appointed Inspector - General of the West African Frontier Force . He was appointed Inspector - General of African Colonial Forces in 1938 . Second World War . Giffard served in the Second World War , initially as Military Secretary at the War Office and then , from 1940 , as General Officer Commanding Palestine & Trans - Jordan . In 1941 he became Commander - in - Chief of West Africa Command . While the Mediterranean was barred to British shipping by German and Italian naval and air force units , West Africa was an important link in Allied lines of communication to the Middle East and Far East . In addition to organising the logistic infrastructure , Giffard ' s major achievement was the reorganisation of the units of the Royal West African Frontier Force into two field infantry divisions , capable of serving as independent forces in rough terrain . Initially , this was in response to a potential threat from Vichy French forces in Senegal and Niger . Later , these two divisions , 81st ( West Africa ) Division and 82nd ( West Africa ) Division served with distinction in the Burma Campaign . He was made General Officer Commanding Eastern Army in India in May 1943 . This army faced the Japan ese army which had occupied Burma . Several sources , notably Field Marshal William " Bill " Slim , testified to his contribution to the improvement in morale and effectiveness in Eastern Army during this period . In October 1943 he was appointed Commander in Chief of 11th Army Group in India and Burma , effectively being commander in chief of land forces in the South East Asia Command . His period of command here was less happy . He was temperamentally the opposite of the publicity - hungry Commander in Chief , Admiral Louis Mountbatten , and the two men often clashed . He and the United States General Joseph Stilwell also disliked each other . Stilwell , as commander of the Northern Combat Area Command , refused to take Giffard ' s orders , claiming that he could not submit American forces to British control , and as Deputy Supreme Commander to Mountbatten he was in any case Giffard ' s superior . The resulting command arrangement was an awkward compromise . In March 1944 , relations between Mountbatten and Giffard broke during a crisis at the start of the Battle of Imphal . Mountbatten acted decisively to obtain transport aircraft from the United States Army Air Force to fly reinforcements and supplies to the isolated Allied troops at Imphal . His Chief of Staff , General Henry Pownall , wrote that Giffard had shown no initiative at all . Giffard was notified of his dismissal in May , but was asked to remain in post until his successor , General Oliver Leese , could relieve him . As a result , he remained until October . Other appointments . In 1945 , he was made Colonel of the Queen ' s Royal Regiment . He was also Colonel Commandant of the Royal West African Frontier Force and of the King ' s African Rifles . Giffard was also Aide - de - Camp General to the King from 1943 to 1946 . He retired in 1946 . His legacy in Britain ' s West African possessions was the pride the people felt in the contribution and fighting record of the two West African divisions which he formed , and which fought on an equal basis with British and Indian divisions . This contributed to the growth of national feeling , which in turn played its part in the achievement of independence in those countries . He was a nephew of the Labour politician Susan Lawrence . External links .