2nd Lieutenant George St Vigor John VIGOR
1st Battalion Welsh Guards

Date of birth: 7th May 1899
Date of death: 26th October 1979

Died aged 80
Unknown
George St Vigor John Vigor was born at "Bryn Estyn", Claygate in Surrey on the 7th of May 1899 the elder son of Major Frederick George Vigor, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, and Eleanor (nee Lloyd) Vigor of Higher Hoopern, Exeter in Devon. He was christened at Claygate on the 5th of June 1899.

He was educated at Hazelwood School until April 1913 where he was a member of the Choir and was appointed as Head of School in 1912. On leaving the school the magazine wrote of him: - "...carries with him to Harrow our heartiest wishes for his success; he has been for a year at the head of the school, and when he has gained self confidence, is sure to render a good account of himself in his new surroundings; we shall watch his future with interest. Though he did not succeed in gaining his "colours" he has played football for the school, and was a serviceable member of the choir."

He went on to Harrow School where he was in The Grove until July 1917 when he left for the Royal Military College Sandhurst.

He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Welsh Guards on the 21st of August 1918 and was promoted to Lieutenant on the 21st of February 1920 following which he was stationed at the Guards Depot at Caterham as resident subaltern during which time he underwent a machine gun course at Seaford. He was then stationed at Warley in Essex before serving with a company of his men who were tasked with guarding Parliament against possible attack by Sinn Fein in December 1920. He was promoted to Captain on the 1st of October 1928. He was promoted to Major on the 26th of January 1938 when he was stationed at Wellington Barracks with the 1st Battalion.

On the outbreak of the Second World War he was second in command of the 2nd Battalion Welsh Guards and was based at the Tower of London as Commanding Officer of the London Brigade.

He was promoted to Acting Lieutenant Colonel on the 20th of October 1940 and was sent on a course at a tactical school at Devizes in Wiltshire on the 28th of October. He was appointed as second in command of “Harpoon Force”, a mixed Irish and Welsh Guards unit which from the 21st to the 24th of May 1940 was despatched for an operation to defend Boulogne during the German invasion of France.

He was promoted to Temporary Colonel on the 20th of January 1941 and was given command of the 2nd Battalion. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on the 18th of May 1942 and given command of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards on the 1st of July 1942, a position he held until the 31st of March 1944 when he was appointed to the command of the Westminster Garrison Battalion from the 1st of April 1944 to 1946. He was awarded the OBE in the King’s Birthday Honours List which was announced in the London Gazette of the 13th of June 1946. He was a member of the London District Assembly in 1946 and retired from the army on the 17th of November 1950 after which he was a member of the Reserve of Officers until the 7th of May 1954.

He served as Commandant of the Cadet Force for Berkshire from 1959 to 1964, retiring as an Honorary Colonel and was Chairman of Newbury Rural District Council from 1964 to 1967. He was Grand Superintendent of the Berkshire Grand Lodge of Freemasons from 1966 to 1978.

He was married in London on the 4th of March 1947 to Rosalie Crofton (nee Tillotson) and they lived at “Carbrook”, Curridge, Newbury in Berkshire.
Went on to Harrow School

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