John Seymour Mennell OBE (OK 1933)

Mennell (d. 1 May 2015) signed up and passed out as Rifleman on his 21st birthday in 1937. During the war he was second in command of the 41st Royal Tank Regiment in the desert when the first German Tiger Tank was captured. He was also a student at the Staff College in Haifa, later serving in Italy as a Major GSO 2 (OPS) in a divisional headquarters. In 1945 when serving as GSO 2, he was awarded the MBE. At the end of the war John initially went on a course at the RAF Staff College in Bracknell on completion of which he was contacted by General Nap Murray and asked if he would like to join a small staff to organise and run the victory parade on June 6, 1946. After the parade, John moved on to Paderborn in Germany and eventually became one of the squadron commanders with the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment. From there he went to spend a year directing the Staff College in Camberley and a further two years at the Australian Staff College at Queenscliff in Victoria. In March 1962 he took up a 31 / OKC NEWS L E T TE R / JULY 2 015 

posting in the HQ Land Forces in Central Europe by which time he had been promoted to full Colonel. In 1962 as a Lt Colonel, John was awarded the OBE as officer primarily responsible for drawing up the new career structure and terms of service for officers in the Army.