{{Short description|British Army officer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}} {{Infobox military person |honorific_prefix = General |name= Sir Geoffrey Musson |honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GCB|CBE|DSO}} |image= |image_size= |alt= |caption= |nickname= |birth_date= {{birth date|1910|06|09|df=yes}} |birth_place= Yockleton, Shropshire, England |death_date= {{death date and age|2008|01|10|1910|06|09|df=yes}} |death_place= |burial_place= |allegiance= United Kingdom |branch= British Army |service_years= 1930–1970 |rank= General |service_number= 45438 |unit= King's Shropshire Light Infantry |commands= Northern Command (1964–1967)<br/>5th Division (1958–1959)<br/>7th Armoured Division (1958)<br/>Commonwealth Forces in Korea (1954–1955)<br/>36th Infantry Brigade (1944–1946)<br/>2nd Battalion, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (1943–1944) |battles= Second World War |awards= Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath<br/>Commander of the Order of the British Empire<br/>Distinguished Service Order<br/>Mentioned in Despatches |relations= |other_work= }} General '''Sir Geoffrey Randolph Dixon Musson''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GCB|CBE|DSO}} (9 June 1910 – 10 January 2008) was a senior British Army officer who served during the Second World War and the Korean War and later became Adjutant-General to the Forces in the late 1960s.
==Military career== Educated at Shrewsbury School and at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, Geoffrey Musson was commissioned into the King's Shropshire Light Infantry in 1930.<ref name=debrett>Debrett's People of Today 1994</ref> During the Second World War he served in North Africa and Italy. He was Commanding Officer of the 2nd Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry from 1943<ref name=times>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100523082057/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article3320267.ece Obituary: General Sir Geoffrey Musson] ''The Times'', 7 February 2008</ref> to 1944 and commander of the 36th Infantry Brigade from 1944 to 1946.<ref name=times/> He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in May 1944 for making an assault crossing of the Gari River, establishing a bridgehead on the far bank, covering the construction of ferries to allow the rest of the brigade to cross and then securing an important vantage point overlooking Monte Cassino.<ref name=times/>
Musson commanded the Commonwealth Forces in Korea from 1954 to 1955, and in 1956 he became commandant of the Infantry Training Centre.<ref name=debrett/> In 1958 he was appointed General Officer Commanding 7th Armoured Division,<ref name=debrett/> going on to be General Officer Commanding 5th Division later that year.<ref name=debrett/> He then served as Chief of Staff of Middle East Land Forces from 1959 to 1962.<ref name=debrett/> He became Commander-in-Chief Northern Command in 1964,<ref name=debrett/> and Adjutant General in 1967.<ref name=debrett/> He retired from the British Army in 1970.<ref name=debrett/>
Musson was Colonel Commandant of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry from 1963 to 1968 and Colonel Commandant of The Light Infantry from 1968 to 1972. He lived in Hurstbourne Tarrant near Andover, Hampshire.<ref name=debrett/>
Musson was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1959, a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1965 and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in 1970.<ref name=debrett/> He was also appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1945.<ref name=debrett/>
In retirement Musson was vice-chairman of the National Savings Committee.<ref name=debrett/>
==Family== In 1939 Musson married Elspeth Lorraine and together they went on to have one son and one daughter.<ref name=debrett/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://generals.dk/general/Musson/Geoffrey_Randolph_Dixon/Great_Britain.html Generals of World War II]
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{s-bef|before=Cosmo Nevill}} {{s-ttl|title=Commandant of the School of Infantry|years=1956–1958}} {{s-aft|after=Charles Harington}} |- {{s-bef|before=John Hackett}} {{s-ttl|title=GOC 7th Armoured Division|years=February – April 1958}} {{s-non|reason=Post disbanded}} |- {{s-new|command|reason='''Division reformed<br/><small>(Post last held by John Churcher)</small>'''}} {{s-ttl|title=GOC 5th Division|years=1958–1959}} {{s-non|reason=Division disbanded<br/><small>(Post next held by Walter Thomas)</small>}} |- {{s-bef|before=Sir Charles Richardson}} {{s-ttl|title=GOC-in-C Northern Command|years=1964–1967}} {{s-aft|after=Sir Walter Walker}} |- {{s-bef|before=Sir Reginald Hewetson}} {{s-ttl|title=Adjutant General|years=1967–1970}} {{s-aft|after=Sir John Mogg}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Musson, Geoffrey}} Category:1910 births Category:2008 deaths Category:Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Category:British Army generals Category:British Army brigadiers of World War II Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Category:King's Shropshire Light Infantry officers Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Category:People educated at Shrewsbury School Category:British Army personnel of the Korean War Category:Military personnel from Shropshire