Colonel Victor John Greenwood MC

Victor John Green wood was born in Birstwith, Yorkshire on 10 Feb 1888, the Son of Colonel Charles Staniforth Greenwood of Swarcliffe Hall, Birstwith near Harrogate. He was first educated at Ludgrove in Hertfordshire and then Eton. In 1906 he went to Christ Church, Oxford. He gained a BA and was commissioned into the 10th Hussars, his father’s old regiment, on 2 Feb 1910, and a month later sailed to Bombay. He was posted to 4th Troop of C Squadron and promoted to lieutenant on 17 April 1912 in which year the regiment were sent to South Africa. Lt Greenwood was put in charge of the Machine Gun detachment and the Reserve Troop. When the 10th were posted to the Western Front in WW1 he was still commanding the Machine Gun section and awarded the MC on 2 June 1916.
He was appointed adjutant from June 1916 until Dec 1919, with the rank of captain. On 11 April 1917 during the Battle of Arras, the regiment suffered heavy casualties at Monchy le Preux; 25 other ranks killed and 150 wounded, 2 officers killed and seven wounded including the commanding officer and Captain Victor Greenwood. He lay wounded in a shell-hole with others and a German shell landed right into the side of the hole but did not go off.
In 1920 the 10th went to Ireland at a time of trouble with the Republicans. He was initially second in command of B Squadron, then took over command a few months later. He was promoted to major on 3 Dec 1920. He spent much of his spare time hunting while the regiment was stationed at the Curragh. Also while there he met his future wife, May Annie Church. They were married on 12 Feb 1923 and later had two children. The 10th were stationed at Aldershot in 1926 and Major Greenwood was second in command of the regiment. The next year, in Dec 1927 he was appointed commanding officer and in 1928 the regiment sailed to Egypt, posted there for a year and then on to India where they were stationed at Meerut. It was here that Colonel Greenwood relinquished command in July 1931.
After retiring from the army Colonel and Mrs May Greenwood lived at Wetherby in Yorkshire. He was appointed Colonel of the 10th Hussars on 29 Jan 1939 and was Colonel of the Regiment throughout WW2, until 31 Dec 1946. He died in 1949. The photo, taken in the 1920s, shows him in the dress uniform of a field officer of the 10th with WW1 medals, although his Military Cross is hidden beneath his caplines. He has a crown badge on his shoulder denoting the rank of major.

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