John Duncan (British Army officer)

Major-General Sir John Duncan KCB CMG CVO DSO (1872–1948) was a British Army officer who commanded the Shanghai Defence Force.

Military career
Duncan joined the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1891 and served on the North West Frontier of India before taking part in the Second Boer War. He served in World War I at Gallipoli before being appointed Commander of 78th Infantry Brigade in 1916 and then General Officer Commanding 22nd Division in Macedonia in 1917. After the War he became Major-General on the General Staff of the Army of the Black Sea in 1919. He was appointed military attaché in Rome in 1920, General Officer Commanding 54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division in 1923 and General Officer Commanding the Shanghai Defence Force in China in 1927. The Shanghai Defence Force was established in January 1927 amidst concerns that British lives and properties were at risk during the unrest in China at the time. In practice he had to deal with a diplomatic incident when a British military plane made a forced landing on the International Race Course in Jiangwan. His last appointment was as General Officer Commanding 1st Infantry Division at Aldershot early in 1928 before retiring later that year.