He was shot through the leg in February 1900, during the Battle of the Tugela Heights, part of the campaign for the relief of Ladysmith.

[1] He reached the rank of major and was awarded the French decorations of the Croix de guerre and the Légion d'honneur and the British Distinguished Service Order in 1918.

[9] During World War II, after the widowed John lost his house during the Blitz, he lived in 10 Downing Street (where he used the bedrooms on the top floor formerly used by Churchill and his wife) or in the No 10 Annex.

[12] John and his wife had three children:[1] Jack died on 23 February 1947,[13] aged 67, of heart disease.

[14] He is buried near his parents and brother (who outlived him for 18 years) at St Martin's Church, Bladon, near Woodstock, Oxfordshire.