John Woodhouse (British Army officer)

Lieutenant Colonel John Michael Woodhouse, MBE, MC (29 September 1922 – 15 February 2008) was a British Army officer credited with helping to reform the Special Air Service.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

In 1956 he was awarded an OBE for doing "more to enhance the operational reputation and technical skill of 22 Special Air Service Regiment than any other officer since the Unit's formation six years ago".^[6]

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.^[1][7]

Woodhouse was not a member of the SAS during the Second World War, he fought in Tunisia, Sicily, and Italy.^[8] 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.^[1][9] In March 1944, a patrol he was commanding was ambushed near Cassino and he was taken prisoner.^[10][11] He became a Russian interpreter with the Allied Control Commission in Germany during the period 1947–49.^[12]

Woodhouse joined the SAS in 1950. The initial results of the re-formed SAS were not as successful as had been hoped. After a period of active service, Woodhouse was chosen to return to the United Kingdom to assist in establishing a selection process for the SAS. The rigorous systems he assisted in developing over three years provided the basis of selection and training of the modern SAS.^[13]

He returned to Malaya as a squadron commander in 1955. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1957 for his services in command of D Squadron 22nd SAS Regiment in Malaya. In 1958, he transferred from the Dorset Regiment to the Parachute Regiment and commanded a company in the 3rd battalion before being appointed second-in-command of 22 SAS in 1960. In 1962, he was chosen to command the regiment. Following the Brunei Revolt, it went to Malaysia in 1963 to address the Indonesian threat. Recalling the approach in Malaya, SAS teams organised jungle tribes to gather intelligence. In January 1964, Woodhouse launched one of his squadrons under Major John Watts on Operation Claret with a mission to locate camps from which Indonesian incursions were launched, and to identify their routes into Sarawak. He convinced his SAS troopers that intelligence was of more long-term value than to inflict limited casualties. When Commonwealth forces brought the Indonesian incursions to an end in 1965, 22 SAS was withdrawn.^[13]

In June 1965 he was asked by David Stirling to lead a small ex-SAS team to the Yemen to assist Royalist forces in their attack on an Egyptian airfield at Sana'a. Stirling and Woodhouse believed it was in British interests to force the Egyptians out of Yemen and so quell terrorism in South Arabia. This followed earlier preparatory work in Yemen by Johnny Cooper and Peter de la Billiere. British covert activity in Yemen continued under David Smiley until November 1967. Woodhouse continued to advise Watchguard (International) Ltd., the private company set up by ex-members of the SAS to help governments of friendly countries combat terrorism and insurgency, and was also an advisor to the Foreign Office.^[14]

Later, when Stirling hit the headlines in the UK with the launch of his political organization, GB75, in response to the economic and political travails of the mid 1970s, Woodhouse wrote a letter to Stirling, which was subsequently published, distancing himself from the initiative.^[15]

Upon retirement, Woodhouse joined the family business, Hall & Woodhouse Brewery, Blandford St Mary, Dorset, where from scratch, he created the successful children's soft drink brand, Panda Pops, becoming the managing director of this division. He was involved in local forestry management and, from 1976 to 1984, he served as chairman of the SAS Association.^[1]