General Sir Bernard Charles Tolver Paget, GCB, DSO, MC (15 September 1887 – 16 February 1961) was a British Army officer who served with distinction in the First World War, and then later during the Second World War, when he commanded the 21st Army Group from June to December 1943 and was Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) Middle East Command from January 1944 to October 1946.

On the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914 he was appointed adjutant of the new 5th (Service) Battalion of the Ox and Bucks stationed at Aldershot, composed mainly of volunteers for Kitchener's Army.

[18] Following being wounded on 26 March 1918 Paget was evacuated to the UK, where he became an instructor at the Staff College in Cambridge until the end of the war.

In 1920 he attended the Staff College, Camberley,[18][1] and later returned there as an instructor from 1926 to 1928, where he taught a significant number of young officers who later achieved high rank.

[25] After serving at the War Office in London as a GSO1, from July 1934 until January 1937, Paget went to India to command the 4th Quetta Infantry Brigade from 1936 to 1937.

[25] In the acting rank of lieutenant general[26] he commanded British forces in the withdrawal at Åndalsnes in Norway[25] in 1940 during the disastrous Norwegian campaign, and was subsequently appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath.

[29] The two men managed to maintain a good working relationship, with Paget recognising Montgomery's expertise in tactics and the training of troops for battle.

[29] Paget commanded the 21st Army Group in the United Kingdom from June to December 1943 prior to General Montgomery taking over.

[34] His final act of World War II took place between May and July 1945 during the Levant Crisis: Paget under orders from Prime Minister Winston Churchill invaded Syria from Transjordan to curb French actions there, which he achieved at no cost.

After the war Paget was Colonel of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry from October 1946 to September 1955[35] In May 1954, he presented new Queen's Colours to the regiment at Osnabrück.

[10] Paget was installed as a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath at a service in Westminster Abbey on 27 October 1960 and his Banner was hung in the Henry VII Chapel.

His younger son, Lieutenant Tony Paget, died on 5 March 1945 from wounds received while serving with the 1st Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (the 43rd) during the Battle of the Reichswald.

His elder son Sir Julian Paget, 4th Baronet, CVO served in the Army, during the Second World War and until he retired in 1969, and then became a military historian.

[43] Sir Bernard Paget Avenue, built on the former Templer Barracks army site in Ashford, Kent, is named after him.