Allan Adair  Major General Sir Allan Henry Shafto Adair, 6th Baronet, (3 November 1897 – 4 August 1988) was a senior officer of the British Army who served in both World wars; as a company commander in the Grenadier Guards in the First World War, and as General Officer Commanding of the Guards Armoured Division in the Second World War. Adair was born in London, the only son of Sir Robert Shafto Adair, 5th Baronet, and Mary Bosanquet. He attended Harrow School between 1912 and 1916. Adair fought in the First World War. He joined the British Army, receiving his commission as a probationary second lieutenant on 2 May 1916 in the 5th (Reserve) Battalion of the Grenadier Guards. From January 1917 onwards he served in the trenches of the Western Front in France and Belgium as part of the 2nd Company, 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards, with the rank of lieutenant. The battalion was part of the 2nd Guards Brigade of the Guards Division. Adair's first major battle was in the pursuit of the retreating German Army to the Hindenburg Line. The division then took part in the Battle of Passchendaele. Adair, however, took no part in the battle, due to an injury sustained in a bicycle accident in early July 1917. He returned to the battalion in January 1918. Adair was awarded his first Military Cross (MC) on 2 December 1918. The citation read:   With the acting rank of captain, Adair was Officer Commanding 2 Company from 22 September to 11 November 1918, receiving his second MC after the war on 2 April 1919 "for conspicuous gallantry and skill at Preux-au-Sart, on 4 November 1918. In command of the left front company, which was held up by an organised line of machine guns, he so manoeuvred his platoons as to capture the line with a minimum of casualties. Although wounded in the leg, he continued in command until relieved the following day". After the armistice of 11 November 1918 Adair's battalion returned to London, where on 29 June 1920 he received his permanent lieutenant's commission, with seniority backdated to 2 August 1918. On 29 September 1923 he was promoted to captain in the 2nd Battalion. He was promoted to major on 22 May 1932, and returned to the 3rd Battalion to serve as second-in-command until 11 April 1940, seven months after the Second World War broke out.