A substantial local landowner with many local connections, he was a friend of Peter Fleming. The son of engineering firm director, Nevile and his wife Isabel (nee Wake), he was born in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire. He married Patricia Morrison-Bell in 1941. Her father was Sir Clive Morrison-Bell, Baronnet of Harpford and former MP for Honiton, Devon.
| Unit or location | Role | Posted from | until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tottington Manor, Small Dole, West Sussex | Intelligence Officer | 13 Jul 1940 | 1941 |
| Sussex | Intelligence Officer | 13 Jul 1940 | 1941 |
| Brandon Mission | SOE Agent | 1942 | 1943 |
| Brandon Mission | SOE Agent | 1942 | 1943 |
Eton College
Christ Church, Oxford.
Lawyer
| Date | Detail |
|---|---|
| 11 Mar 1927 | Commissioned Second Lieutenant 98th (Surrey & Sussex Yeomanry) Field Brigade Royal Artillery (RA) Territorial Army |
| 11 Mar 1930 | Promoted to Lieutenant 98th (Surrey & Sussex Yeomanry) Field Brigade RA |
| 17 Jun 1933 | From active list 98th (Surrey & Sussex Yeomanry) Field Brigade RA to be Lieutenant |
| 1938 | 98th renamed RA Regiment (as all RA field brigades were) and organised into two batteries, each of three troops, each of four guns, a total of 24 guns. |
| 24 Aug 1939 | Mobilised as Lieutenant |
| 17 Dec 1939 | Acting Captain Transferred to 53 Anti-Tank Regiment RA |
| 09 Jan 1940 | Arrived Le Havre to join the British Expeditionary Force |
| 18 Feb 1940 | Posted to 210 Battery as Battery Captain |
| 17 Mar 1940 | Promoted Temporary Captain |
| 21 May 1940 | 210 Battery fought off the German Blitzkrieg and was involved in the defence of the Dunkirk perimeter during which Captain Gwynne was slightly wounded. Evacuation from Dunkirk. 53 Anti-Tank Regiment RA War Diary May 1940 |
| June 1940 | Commanded 209 Battery 53 Anti-Tank Regiment |
| 12 Jul 1940 |
Attended initial Colonel Gubbins Auxiliary Units formation meeting. Joined Auxiliary Units as Sussex Intelligence Officer |
| 27 Sep 1941 | P.T.C. (Put through the Cards - a Security Check) before joining SOE |
| 01 Oct 1941 | Joined SOE as M/Operations M Sections |
| 01 Apr 1942 | Joined the Small Scale Raiding Force (62 Commando) as Planning and Intelligence Officer then moved on to active operations. He took part in Operation Facsimilie in October 1943 |
| 09 Aug 1942 | War Substantive Captain / Temporary Major Specially Employed (that is to say not with his regiment) |
| 18 Jan 1943 | Transferred for Special Operational Duties, in the field 01 Feb 1943 |
| 03 Feb 1943 | Left UK for North Africa with BRANDON Mission in Algeria and Tunisia |
| 24 Mar 1943 | Returned to the UK. |
| 09 Aug 1943 | Left UK for Cairo. Appointed as a British Liaison Office and sent to Greece to organise their Resistance. There SOE found itself in an impossible situation, trying to coerce Greeks with diametrically opposed political interests into unified resistance. Civil war erupted between ELAS and EDES in late 1943 |
| 01 Sep 1943 | An incident occurred on this day resulting in the shooting of a British Soldier. |
| 29 Sep 1943 | Major Gwynne experienced some of the tensions in Greece as can be seen in an Account of a Harassing Operation on the Epirus Road that he reported on. |
| October 1943 | Major John Gwynne held while the shooting incident was being investigated. He was exonerated. |
| November 1943 | Hospitalised having caught Malaria |
| 29 Nov 1943 | Returned to UK |
| 03 Mar 1944 | Left SOE. Posted to P.I.D. (Political Intelligence Department of the Foreign Office) |
| 1945 | Officer in Charge of Religious Affairs in the Control Commission of Germany. |
| 11 Apr 1956 | Ceases to belong to the Territorial Army Reserve of Officers due to reaching the upper age limit. Granted Honorary Rank of Major. |
In 1941 he was registered as a solicitor with the firm Last, Richards and Fritton, 18 Bolton Street, W1, London.
In early 1948 John Gwynne successfully applied for a newly generated post as the first Executive Director of the Outward Bound Trust. He spent four successful years laying the foundations and getting Industry support.
Army List 1941
The National Archives HS9/640/1 and WO166/570
“No Colours or Quest” by Peter Kemp
Foreign Fields by Peter Wilkinson.