World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseJean Marcia Leith-Marshall was born to G. G. Leith-Marshall in England, United Kingdom in 1908. In 1926, she married Ewart Vivian Miller; that marriage ended in a divorce in 1933. In 1935, she married RAF Squadron Leader George Ronald Meldrum Knox and took on his surname; they would have one daughter together. They resided in Leicestershire in the English Midlands and held no professional positions outside of her home until Oct 1938 when she joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service. In Apr 1941, she was promoted to the rank of senior commandant and was made the Inspector of the ATS; in that role, she inspected every ATS command and had a seat on the ATS Council. In Jul 1941, she was made the director of ATS with the temporary rank of chief controller. In Jul 1942, she was promoted to the rank of controller. In Sep 1942, she inspected the Canadian Women's Army Corps, returning to Britain in Nov 1942. During the 1943 New Year Honours, she was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Her directorship of ATS ended in Oct 1943 due to health reasons. In late 1944, she divorced George Knox. In 1945, she married Stuart Albert Samuel Montagu, 3rd Baron Swaythling, in Southampton, England, and took on his surname. For a brief six-week period across Mar and Apr 1948, she was the managing director of the department store Peter Jones located in Sloan Square, Chelsea, London, England. She passed away in 1993.

Photographs

Jean Knox Timeline