John Bevan

Who was John Bevan?

Colonel John Henry Bevan CB, MC was a British Army officer who, during the Second World War, made an important contribution to military deception culminating in Operation Bodyguard. In civilian life he was a respected stockbroker in his father's firm.

Bevan had an upper-class upbringing, including an education at Eton and Oxford. During the First World War he fought with the Hertfordshire Regiment in France and later became involved with intelligence analysis. His latter work came to the attention of wartime leaders, including Winston Churchill. Bevan stayed in the army for a while following the end of the war, and then took up a career in stock brokerage. He joined his father's firm, got married, and built up his profile as an honest businessman.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Bevan was recalled to his Territorial Army regiment and assigned as a staff officer during the early campaigns in Norway. In 1941 he was seconded to the London Controlling Section, a department set up to oversee strategic deception planning for the Allies. Oliver Stanley, the LCS's previous head, was in the process of returning to politics so Bevan was given command of the unit.