John Mogg ( British Army officer ) General Sir Herbert John Mogg GCB CBE DSO & Bar ( 17 February 1913 – 28 October 2001 ) was a senior British Army officer who also held the NATO position of Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe ( DSACEUR ) . He has been described as a popular and affable man . The Guardian newspaper , in his obituary , sums up his personality and how it influenced what he , and those he worked with , accomplished in his career : " John Mogg ' s large frame was combined with an exceptionally genial , warm and sympathetic character , which appealed not only to soldiers of all ranks , but to people in every walk of life , whatever their nationality . In his time , he was probably the British army ' s most popular general , and finished his career in one of Nato ' s most influential posts , as deputy supreme allied commander ( 1973 - 76 ) at headquarters at Mons , in Belgium . Here , his sound commonsense and even temperament were valuable in balancing the direct approach , and sometimes abrasive personality , of the supreme commander , the US General Alexander Haig . " Army career . He was educated at Malvern College , and the Royal Military Academy , Sandhurst . At Malvern , he paid more attention to cricket than to his studies , with the result that , instead of taking the entrance exam for Sandhurst , he chose the alternative route of a Y - cadetship in the Coldstream Guards . After three years in the ranks , he was selected for Sandhurst , where he gained the sword of honour in 1936 , being commissioned into the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in August 1937 . He was a distinguished commander of the 9th battalion Durham Light Infantry from the Invasion of Normandy to the defeat of Germany . Mogg commanded the 10th Battalion The Parachute Regiment between 1950 and 1952 . He was later a brigade commander in the Malayan Emergency before becoming Commandant of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1963 and Commander of I Corps in Germany in 1966 . He went on to be General Officer Commanding Southern Command in 1968 , General Officer Commanding , Army Strategic Command " ( n . k . a . Commander - in - Chief , Land Forces ) " later that year and , finally , Adjutant - General to the Forces in 1970 . With NATO , he was DSACEUR between 1973 and 1976 . He was ADC General to the Queen from 1971 to 1974 , Colonel Commandant of the Royal Green Jackets from 1965 to 1973 and Commandant of the Army Air Corps from 1963 to 1974 . He was interested in many sports including boxing , cricket and equestrianism and promoted these inside the army , as well as more generally . Mogg was a president of a number of sports , army and veteran ' s associations . He served various charities , mostly connected with the armed services , or adventure training . Including being Chairman of Operation Drake Fellowship ( now part of Fairbridge ( charity ) and Operation Raleigh . He was made Vice Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire in 1979 . There is a school in Detmold , Germany , for children in pre - school and years 1 - 6 whose parents are serving in the British Army , that is named after Sir John Mogg . The school was opened on 10 February 1971 by him . Family . In 1939 he married Cecilia Margaret Molesworth and together they went on to have three sons . References .