John Bevan (British Army officer)

John Bevan
Bevan as a captain at the Supreme War Council in 1918
Born	5 April 1894
Died	3 December 1978(1978-12-03) (aged 84) London, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1914–1946
Rank	Colonel
Service number	50751[1]
Unit	Hertfordshire Regiment, London Controlling Section
Battles/wars	First World War Second World War
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath[2] Military Cross Efficiency Decoration[3] Legion of Merit (United States)[1]

Colonel John Henry "Johnny"^[4] Bevan CB, MC, TD (5 April 1894 – 3 December 1978) was a British Army officer who, during the Second World War, made an important contribution to military deception, culminating in Operation Bodyguard, the plan to conceal the D-Day landings in Normandy. 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 (LCS), 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.

Upon his arrival the LCS was struggling to maintain its authority against the armed forces establishment. Bevan and his deputy, Dennis Wheatley, used their social connections (and a broad charter from high command) to enable the department to put plans into operation. In 1943 Bevan helped establish Ops (B) (a deception department within COSSAC) and plan Operation Cockade. Intended to tie up German forces in western Europe, the operation was not a success. However, building on the lessons learned from Cockade (and from Dudley Clarke in the Mediterranean) Bevan created Operation Bodyguard, which historians agree contributed to the success of the Operation Overlord landings in 1944.