Geoffrey Aldington

Sir Geoffrey William Aldington (1 June 1907 – 19 February 1992 ) was a British diplomat who served as ambassador to Luxembourg from 1961 to 1966.

Early life and education

Aldington was born in London on 1 June 1907, the son of Henry William Aldington. He was educated at City of London School and Magdalen College, Oxford.

Career

Aldington joined the Far Eastern consular service in 1929 as a student interpreter. Two years later he was appointed a vice-consul and served in Peking from 1931 to 1933. After spending two years at the Foreign Office as secretary to Sir Alexander Cadogan who was later head of the Foreign Office, he returned to China as acting consul at Chungking, and in 1938 was promoted to consul. In 1939, he was transferred to Tsingtao, and after Japan invaded China he and his wife were incarcerated by the Japanese army until they were released before the end of the war as part of an exchange of detained diplomats.

In 1943, he was seconded to the Ministry of Information in Delhi dealing with propaganda, and later served with the Southeast Asian command led by Lord Mountbatten. After the war, he returned to China in 1945 as acting consul-general at Hankow, and later superintending consul at Shanghai. In 1947, he returned to the Foreign Office where he was appointed head of the Information Services department. and in 1956, consul-general at Philadelphia. In 1961, he was appointed ambassador to Luxembourg, and also in the following year, consul-general, a post he held until his retirement in 1966. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1946 Birthday Honours, and promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in the 1965 Birthday Honours.