John Sharp (British Army officer)

Sir John Sharp
Born	(1917-09-06)6 September 1917 Blaby, Leicestershire, England
Died	15 January 1977(1977-01-15) (aged 59) Oslo, Norway
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	British Army
Years of service	1938–1977
Rank	General
Service number	76719
Unit	Royal Artillery
Commands	Allied Forces Northern Europe I Corps Staff College, Camberley 2nd Infantry Division 11th Infantry Brigade 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery
Battles / wars	Second World War
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Military Cross & Bar
Relations	Aubrey Sharp (father)

General Sir John Aubrey Taylor Sharp, KCB, MC & Bar (6 September 1917 – 15 January 1977) was a British Army officer who achieved high office in the 1970s.

Military career

Sharp was educated at Repton School and Jesus College, Cambridge. He was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1938. He served in the Second World War with 5th Medium Regiment and then with the 4th Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1942, and a bar to the award in 1943, both "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the Middle East." He went to the Staff College, Quetta, in India in 1944 and then became Personal Liaison Officer to Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery in 1945.

After the war Sharp became an instructor at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, in 1947, advancing to Military Assistant to the Commander-in-Chief, Far East Land Forces in 1955. He became commanding officer of the 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery in 1959 and commander of the 11th Infantry Brigade Group in 1961. He went to the Imperial Defence College in 1963 and then became commandant of the Royal School of Artillery at Larkhill in 1964. He was appointed General Officer Commanding 2nd Division in the British Army of the Rhine in 1966 and commandant of the Staff College, Camberley, in 1967.

Sharp was General Officer Commanding I Corps in 1970, Military Secretary in 1972 and lastly Commander-in-Chief, Allied Forces Northern Europe from 1974 up to his death in Oslo on 15 January 1977. In that capacity he had to deal with threats to Europe's northern flank from the Soviet Union.

Cricket

Sharp played first-class cricket for Leicestershire and the University of Cambridge in five matches between 1937 and 1946. His father, Aubrey Sharp, was a cricketer of greater renown, appearing in first-class cricket for Leicestershire between 1908 and 1935 and captaining the team in 1921 and part of 1922.