Ivo Vesey

General Sir Ivo Lucius Beresford Vesey, (11 August 1876 – 19 February 1975) was a British Army officer who served as Chief of the General Staff in India from 1937 to 1939.

Military career Born the second son of Major General George Henry Vesey and educated at Wellington College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Vesey was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Queen's Royal Regiment on 20 February 1897. He was promoted to lieutenant on 20 October 1898. He served in the Second Boer War of 1899–1902, where he was wounded in the Battle of Colenso on 15 December 1899, and later served in the Natal from March to June 1900, including action at Laing's Nek in June. While in South Africa, he was acting adjutant of the 2nd Battalion of his regiment from 15 May to 29 November 1900. After peace was declared in May 1902, Vesey left South Africa on board the SS Bavarian and arrived in the United Kingdom the following month.

In May 1904 he was appointed an adjutant of his regiment.

In August 1911 he was appointed a brigade major and in April 1914 he was appointed as a general staff officer, grade 2 at the War Office, taking over from Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Lord Loch. In November he became an assistant military secretary.

Vesey later served in the First World War. In June 1915 he was appointed an assistant military secretary, which was graded as an assistant adjutant general (AAG) in terms of pay, and for which he was granted the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel whilst employed in this role. He was promoted to substantive major in September and brevet colonel in June 1918, and then became director of recruiting and organisation at the War Office in London in 1919. and was placed on half-pay in May 1929.

He became general officer commanding of 48th South Midland Division in April 1930 and director of staff duties at the War Office in June 1931. He went on to be General Officer Commanding-in-Chief at Western Command, India in 1935, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief at Southern Command, India in March 1936 and Chief of the General Staff in India in 1937 before retiring in 1939.

The grave of Ivo Vesey in the churchyard of St John the Baptist, Layer de la Haye, Essex.

Honours and awards