Giffard LeQuesne Martel

Who was Giffard LeQuesne Martel?

Lieutenant-General Sir Giffard Le Quesne Martel, KCB, KBE, DSO, MC, M I Mech E was a British Army officer who served in both World War I and World War II. He was the son of Brigadier General Charles Philip Martel, C.B., Chief Superintendent of Ordnance Factories. He married Maud Mackenzie on 29 July 1922 and they had two children, a son, Major Peter Martel, MC, born 1938 and a daughter, Gillian, born 1941. Familiarly known as "Q Martel" or just "Q", he was a pioneering British military engineer and tank strategist.

Giffard Le Quesne Martel entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich in 1908 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on 23 July 1909. An enthusiastic amateur boxer, Martel was instrumental in the establishment of The Royal Navy and Army Boxing Association in 1911.