Temporary Lieutenant Colonel John G Squirrell

John Gordon Squirrell was the son of Ernest Alfred and Vera Gladys Louise Squirrell, of Leicester.

He was educated at Uppingham School, where he served as a Cadet L/Cpl in the School’s Junior Officer Cadet Training Unit.

John Squirrell was commissioned into the 5th Bn, The Leicestershire Regiment, a Territorial Army unit, on 30 Jan 1929, and by the outbreak of World War II had been promoted to Temporary Major.

He was later promoted to Temp Lt Colonel and appointed as the first General Staff Officer 1st Grade (GSO1) of the Airborne Forces Development Centre when it was established at Amesbury in May 1943.

Lt Col John Squirrell died on 30 January 1944, aged 33 years, and is now buried at St Martin’s Church, Desford, Leicestershire.