Reference
X550/18
Title
Military archives of Lt Col John H Busby
Production date
From: 1917 To: 1972
Admin/biog history
Lt Col John Henry Busby was born on 16th May 1912 and entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst in 1931. He was commissioned on 1st September 1932 and joined the 2nd battalion of the Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Regiment at Bordon. In 1935 he was posted to the 1st Battalion as a second lieutenant at Baherak camp, Jhansi, India. He accompanied the 1st battalion to Palestine in 1938. In 1939 he entered staff college and, after a short tour of Regimental duty, was sent to the Falkland Islands as DAA & QMG, on the staff of Commander Colonel Hynes, to prepare against a Japanese offensive in the Southern hemisphere (1942-4). He maintained a keen interest in the question of the sovereignty of the islands, particularly during the 1968-9 crisis and Lord Chalfont's mission.
On returning to England he was present in 1944 with the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry as a Company Commander, being wounded in the Ardennes Offensive of that year. In March 1946 he embarked on a journey from the Gold Coast to Sierra Leone described in his journal, 'Three Thousand Miles in a Jeep' and issued a report on the state of the roads. He visited East Africa in 1946 and West Africa again in 1947. He served at HQ British Army of the Rhine as DAA & QMG (Maintenance). In 1952-3 he served as AA and QMG of the Combined Commonwealth Forces Headquarters in Korea where he held the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He acted as Training Major of the Hertfordshire Regiment (TA) and finally as 2nd in Command of the 1st Battalion, The Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Regiment in Egypt and Tidworth. He retired from the Regular Army in September 1955.
His dedication and hard work obtained recognition by the award of the MBE for the period spent in the Falkland Islands during 1942-3. Once retired he devoted much of his time to the Royal British Legion, The British Red Cross Society and to historical research work in general. In addition to being a Councillor for his home town of Eye, Suffolk, he was an adviser on Investments' Policies for the Royal Anglian Regiment. He died on 16th November 1980 in Hartismere Hospital. His widow, Judith, had for many years been an archivist in Hertford.
1947 Army List
Bedfs & Herts reft. 2nd Lt 1/9/32; Lt 1/9/35; Adjt 4/7/40 - 22/8/40; Capt 1/9/40; Major 1/7/46; Palestine 1936-39 Medal and clasp.
Level of description
sub-fonds
Persons/institution keyword