Willoughby Norrie , 1st Baron Norrie Lieutenant - General Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie , 1st Baron Norrie GCMG , GCVO , CB , DSO , MC & Bar ( 26 September 189325 May 1977 ) was a British Army general during the Second World War , following which he served terms as Governor of South Australia and the eighth Governor - General of New Zealand . Army career . After education at Eton and at the Royal Military College , Sandhurst he was commissioned into the 11th Hussars in 1913 . He served in the First World War , in which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order , the Military Cross and Bar , was twice mentioned in despatches , and was wounded four times . He became , successively , a Staff Captain in the 73rd Infantry Brigade ; General Staff Officer Grade 3 ( GSO3 ) in the XVIIIth Army Corps ; Brigade Major in the 90th Infantry Brigade , and in the 2nd Tank Brigade ; and second General Staff Officer in the 2nd Tank Corps . In January 1919 he changed his name by deed poll from Moke - Norrie to Norrie . Between the wars he had a number of regimental and staff postings interrupted by a year at Staff College in 1924 . In 1931 he was promoted to lieutenant - colonel and took command of the 11th Hussars after which he was placed on the half - pay ( inactive ) list although promoted to full colonel in 1935 . In January 1936 , still on the half pay list , Norrie took part in the funeral procession for King George V as one of the " Representative Colonels - Commandant and Colonels of His late Majesty ' s Regiments " . In April 1936 he was appointed to command the 1st Cavalry Brigade as a temporary brigadier . His brigade was mechanised in 1938 and re - designated 1st Light Armoured Brigade , becoming the 1st Armoured Brigade in 1940 . On the outbreak of the Second World War Norrie continued to serve as commander of 1st Armoured Brigade . In April 1940 the brigade was part of 2nd Armoured Division which he was given temporary command of for a month between appointments of permanent commanders . Following this he was appointed acting major - general and became Inspector of the Royal Armoured Corps . Four months later he became GOC 1st Armoured Division and was promoted to the permanent rank of major - general in June 1941 . In November 1941 the division was ordered to Egypt where Norrie found himself appointed acting lieutenant - general to command XXX Corps in the place of Vyvyan Pope who had died in an air crash shortly before Norrie ' s arrival in Egypt . He commanded XXX Corps during Operation Crusader with some success but his tanks suffered a heavy defeat at the Battle of Gazala in June 1942 . He was criticised for his " cavalry " approach to armoured warfare and Eighth Army commander Claude Auchinleck replaced him in July . He returned to Britain to be appointed Commander of the Royal Armoured Corps in which role he was to give advice on armoured warfare to Bernard Paget , the C - in - C Home Forces . He continued as Paget ' s advisor when Paget became commander of 21st Army Group on its formation in July 1943 but when Bernard Montgomery assumed command early in 1944 , he brought his own advisor . In April 1944 Norrie was appointed Head of the Military Mission to the French Committee of National Liberation ( CFLN ) in Algiers , a post he held until the middle of 1944 when he was proposed by the Secretary of State for the Dominions to become Governor of South Australia . Norrie retired from the army in September 1944 to take up his post as Governor of South Australia . Although his substantive rank at this time was still major - general , he was given the honorary rank of lieutenant - general in retirement . Family . Norrie was married to Jocelyn Helen Gosling on 9 June 1922 . They had three children : Jocelyn Norrie died on 7 March 1938 . He remarried later that year , to Patricia Merryweather Bainbridge , on 28 November . They also had three children : Norrie also had a ward , his niece Eleanor Kerans ( born 21 April 1926 ) . She had been orphaned at an early age , and when she was 16 her brother was killed in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War , leaving her with no immediate family . Governor of South Australia . Norrie was appointed Governor of South Australia in September 1944 , whereupon he was knighted KCMG . He , his family and 12 staff arrived in Adelaide in December . The Vice - Regal couple worked hard to keep the " Empire Spirit " alive during wartime . Within two years , Norrie had travelled to every local government area within the state , and was sure to welcome servicemen returning from war . Lady Patricia , with Rosemary and Eleanor , were regular volunteers and champions of various patriotic causes . In 1945 , Norrie was made a Knight of St . John , an award associated with public and charitable works . Although normally remaining neutral in regards to local politics , he was " shocked " at the narrow rejection of Thomas Playford ' s bill to nationalise the Adelaide Electric Company . He privately exerted pressure on the bill ' s main opponents . When the bill was reintroduced in 1946 , Sir Collier Cudmore absented himself from key divisions , allowing the bill to pass and leading to the establishment of the Electricity Trust of South Australia . Norrie ' s term was extended for four years in 1948 . Despite his illustrious career , he would forever claim that his greatest achievement was the catching of a shark weighing , with rod and reel , off Port Lincoln ! Governor - General of New Zealand . Norrie ' s KCMG was promoted to GCMG when he was appointed Governor - General of New Zealand in 1952 , in which position he served until 1957 . During his tenure he was made GCVO for personal services to the Queen . On leaving office he was created a peer in 1957 as Baron Norrie , of Wellington in the Dominion of New Zealand and of Upton in the County of Gloucester . From 1960 to 1968 he was Chancellor of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George . Styles . " Note : An asterisk ( * ) denotes a bar to a military award "