User:Buggie111/Major Geoffrey Stewart Powell

Major Geoffrey Stewart Powell (1914-2005) was a colonel in the British Army during and after World War 2. He served in, and once attempted to climb the Matterhorn in 1974.

Early Life
Geoffrey Stewart Powell was born Scarborough, North Yorkshire on Christmas Day, 1914, which was shortly after the bombardment of the town by the German battleships SMS Derfflinger and SMS Von der Tann. He was the only child of Owen and Kitty Powell. During his youth, he wanted to join the Royal Navy, but failed to make the competitive special entry examination. He spent the remainder of his pre-war life as an estate agent along with a comission in the Green Howards in the Territorial Army.

Army service
War broke out as he was shipping out to Punjab to join the Second Green Howards, hwere he remained in 1942. In 1942 he joined the 4th Parachute Brigade in Egypt, and in 1943 was transfered to 156th Parachute Batallion in Tunisa, hwere he commanded a company. He broke his leg during a training jump, and was forced to miss the invasion of Italy, returning to the batallion in November.