John Woodhouse

Lieutenant Colonel John Michael Woodhouse, (29 September 1922 – 15 February 2008) was a British Army officer credited with helping to reform the Special Air Service. Early years John "Jock" Woodhouse was born in Kensington, London, on 29 September 1922, the only son of Brigadier Charles Woodhouse, a former Colonel of the Dorset Regiment. He received his education at Malvern College and commissioned into the Dorset Regiment in 1942. Military career Second World War Woodhouse was not a member of the SAS during the Second World War, he fought in Tunisia, Sicily, and Italy. While commanding with 1st Battalion, East Surrey Regiment, he received his Military Cross for leading an attack on buildings occupied by tank crews which turned out to be the headquarters of the 16th Panzer Division. In March 1944, a patrol he was commanding was ambushed near Cassino and he was taken prisoner. He became a Russian interpreter with the Allied Control Commission in Germany during the period 1947–49.