Page 129 - QDG Volume 9 No. 5

1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards 127
Obituary
Lieutenant General Sir Maurice Johnston KCB, CVO, OBE
Maurice Johnston died on 10th November
2024 aged 95. He had a stimulating and
varied career as a professional soldier, later
in business and then as Lord-Lieutenant of
Wiltshire. He was energetic, indefatigable,
had an enormous capacity for work and could
turn his hand to almost anything. Nothing
was deemed insurmountable. Successes
attended all his endeavours.
Self-reliance came early when, aged
eleven and, after his preparatory school was
damaged in the blitz, Maurice was put on
board SS Stratheden bound, round the Cape,
for India where his father was serving. After
three years at Aitchison College, Lahore,
he returned on the Stratheden to go to
Wellington College.
He attended RMA Sandhurst, passed out
top of the order of merit, receiving the King’s
Medal, and in 1949 was commissioned into
the Royal Artillery. Serving in post-war
Germany he competed at Army level in the hurdles and quarter
mile, had several winners on his German remount stallion and
enjoyed wildfowling on the Elbe. He was selected for 3RHA, no
longer horsed but prestigious all the same, and went with them
to the Canal Zone, Egypt. There he and Tony Shewen trans-
ferred to The Queen’s Bays in Aqaba, Jordan briefly as a troop
leader and then in Sabratha, Libya as adjutant.
From then on until command of his regiment Maurice had a
run of demanding jobs. He instructed at Sandhurst, getting an
Army trial at Pentathlon, commanded a squadron twice both in
BAOR and in Borneo during the Indonesian confrontation with
Malaysia and was a DS at the Staff College. In 1969 he was
appointed MA to CGS – firstly to General Sir George Baker and
for a brief spell with General Sir Michael Carver. This experi-
ence and insight into the MOD was to stand him in good stead.
For this service in a pressurised job he was awarded OBE. His
citation noted that “his most outstanding characteristic is his
sound and balanced judgement” and “he has the ability to
assimilate the vast quantities of paper which pour through this
office, extracting all the important and relevant points and to put
forward his conclusions concisely and clearly.
Maurice commanded the Regiment from 1971 – 73. During
this period he was involved in a trial of a square brigade based
on two armoured regiments and two armoured infantry battal-
ions which was ultimately adopted by the
Army as a whole. Important appointments in
command and on the staff followed in rapid
succession. He was promoted directly to
command 20th Armoured Brigade, followed
by a year as a student at the RCDS and in 1997
he became BGS at UK Land Forces in Wilton.
There he led a study into the place of women
in the Army. Stemming from the maxim that “a
woman’s central role is the creation of life, not
to destroy it,” his study team concluded that
women should not serve in the front line but
should be taught how to defend themselves
with personal weapons which came official
policy for a while.
Maurice’s military career had definitely
taken off. He spent eight years as a Lieutenant
Colonel only to reach the rank of Lieutenant
General in seven and he now moved in heady
circles. He was successively senior DS at
the RCDS from 1978-80, ACGS (Operational
Requirements) and then after a year promoted to Lieutenant
General as DCDS in the same discipline, becoming involved in
the Falklands War. He was Knighted KCB in 1982. His final
appointment was a new post as DCDS when he had to arbitrate
between the entrenched single service attitudes of self-preser-
vation and resource allocation. He retired in 1984.
Maurice quickly launched himself into a new business career.
He was chief executive of a merchant bank specialising in coun-
ter-trade finance, chairman of a company pioneering private
prisons and of another re-cycling Birmingham waste. For many
years he was a non-executive director of an hydraulics firm.
Along while he was made a DL in 1990, was High Sheriff
1993-94 and Lord Lieutenant 1986-04. He was a Governor of St
Mary’s School, Calne and Dauntseys School. For his services to
Wiltshire, he was appointed CVO by The Queen in 2005.
Maurice was a man of many talents. Not only was he an
accomplished athlete, horseman both in point-to-points and
polo handicapped 2, keen shot and fly fisherman he was a
most skilled glass engraver, made tapestry work, a dedicated
gardener and beekeeper.
Maurice was Colonel of Regiment from 1986 – 1991, he and
Belinda attended numerous regimental events.
He married Belinda Sladen in 1960 and we extend our heart-
felt sympathy to her, Lucinda, Philip and their families.
Sadly, the following deaths were notified to the Regimental Secretary throughout 2024
Name Regiment Served Dec’d Age
T Hesketh-Gardener QDG
1959 - 1961 June 23 86
Major J Hamilton KDG 1946 - 1959 Jan 24 105
G Robeson
KDG
1947 – 1948 Jan 24 95
D Davison QDG 1952 - 1975 Feb 24 88
J Sutherland QDG 1961 - 1970 Feb 24 84
J E Borrett
KDG
1944 - 1947
Mar 24 98
K Ruscoe QDG
1960’s
Mar 24
G Macey QDG
1963 - 1978 Apr 24 81
R Partridge KDG/QDG 1951 - 1976 Apr 24 90
RDK Edwards
KDG
1953 - 1955 Sept 24 89
D Negus
KDG
1956 - 1958 Oct 24 86
Lt Gen Sir Maurice Johnston BAY/QDG 1950 - 1984 Nov 24 95
A I Harrison
BAY/QDG
1953 - 1977 Dec 24 89
D McCaig
BAY
WWII Dec 24
103