Major General John Strawson CBE (1 January 1921 – 21 February 2014) was a British Army officer,[2] best known for his service during the Second World War in the Middle East and Italy, and afterwards in Germany and Malaya.

[3] His father was the headmaster of an East London secondary school whose health was ruined by four years of service on the Western Front during the Great War.

Despite the exigencies of war, Strawson writes fondly of being able to enjoy such pursuits as "polo, golf, tennis, squash, swimming and poodle faking".

His later books include: Gentlemen in Khaki: The British Army 1890-1990 (1989), The Duke and the Emperor: Wellington and Napoleon (1994) and Churchill and Hitler: In Victory and Defeat (1997).

[8] To the end of his life he continued to attend a variety of events in support of the British Army and, in particular, of the Old Comrades Association of the Queen's Royal Hussars, where he was known to all as "General John".