He
was again wounded but after lying on a stretcher for
a while, insisted on getting up and directing the
further attack which resulted in the capture of over
200 prisoners, two batteries of field-guns and numerous
machine-guns. He refused to leave the field until
the success signal had gone up on the final objective.
Gort
taught at the Staff College, Camberley after the war.
He was promoted to Colonel in 1925 and went on to command
the Guards Brigade for two years from 1930 before overseeing
training in India and then returning to the Staff College
in 1936 as Commander.
He
was made a General in 1937, unusually being promoted
directly from Major-General and never holding the rank
of Lieutenant-General, and was then the surprise choice
to be Chief of the Imperial General Staff. In 1939 at
the outbreak of war he was given command of the British
Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France, arriving on 19
September 1939. The disposition of the BEF was attacked,
in hindsight, as too conventional and at the time, chiefly
due to lack of any kind of defensive works, but he reacted
efficiently to the ensuing crisis. Following the Phony
War, the German break-through in the Ardennes split
the Anglo-French forces. Forced northwards, the BEF
had to be evacuated from France during the Battle of
Dunkirk.
Back
in England, he served in various positions for the duration
of the war. Gort was made an aide to King George VI
in 1940. He went on to serve as Governor of Gibraltar
(1941-1942) then Malta (1942-1944) and he ended the
war as High Commissioner for Palestine and Transjordan.
He attained the rank of field marshal in 1943.
He
was created a viscount in the Peerage of the United
Kingdom under the same title in 1946. Upon his death
(without children), in London on 31 March 1946, the
Irish viscountcy of Gort passed to a cousin and the
British creation became extinct.
He
was the father-in-law of Major William Sidney, VC.
He
is buried in the vault of St John the Baptist Church,
Penshurst.
His
Victoria Cross is not publicly displayed. |
