Geoffrey
Firstname
Page
Middle Name
Mason
Surname
Date of Birth
School Years:
Date of Death:
1914 - 22
Family
1935 married Alice Payne-James
School Record
First Eleven Colours for Soccer (as a Goalkeeper), Cricket (as a batsman) and Hockey (as a forward).
Branch of Service:
Army
Service Number:
32628
Rank:
Decorations:
Service Record
Lt. Colonel
T.D. and Mention in Despatches
Post War Career
He joined the Territorial Army and was commissioned into the Royal Regiment of Artillery T.A. in 1925. He was commanding the 229 Battery 58 Medium Regiment R.A. T.A. when war broke in September 1939. The Battery consisted mainly of Ipswich and Suffolk men with a few regular reservists posted in.
The Regiment went to France in with the British Expeditionary Force in January 1940 and returned to England from the Dunkirk beaches during May/June 1940. He was one of the last of the Regiment to leave the beaches. He was subsequently promoted to 2nd in command of the Regiment which then embarked for North Africa and he served in that capacity throughout the Tunisian part of the North African Campaign and in the Italian Campaign. He was then promoted to command 17 Medium Regiment which was a regular army unit. He was mentioned in despatches.
Following his war service, he returned to the family business of Frank Mason and Sons Ltd. He was appointed a Magistrate and then Chairman of the Ipswich Bench from 1963 to 1972. He was, for 17 years, Chairman of the Governing Body of the School. He was appointed C.B.E. in 1957 and became a Deputy Lieutenant for Suffolk in 1958, the same year in which he was the President O.I. Club. He was also active with the Ipswich Dramatic Club and the Ipswich Operatic Society and played a prominent part in the world of Freemasonry.
Burial Information
Additional Information
Obituary in the O.I.M.volume 23 of 1975 at page 100 where there is a summary of his war years by Capt. H. A. Warner who served under him.
Other Pictures
