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Sir (Geoffrey) Miles Clifford (1897-21 February 1986) was a colonial administrator and local politician.

Clifford entered the army straight from school in 1914. He initially served in the Machine Gun Corps on the Western Front. After recovering from severe injuries he joined the Royal Marines and remained in Germany as part of the army of occupation until 1920.

In 1921 he joined the Colonial Service and was posted to Nigeria. He rose to become Assistant Principal Secretary from 1938–41 and was the commanding officer of the Nigerian European Defence Force. From 1941-42 he worked with the Free French forces in North Africa, and was subsequently awarded the Médaille de la Résistance Française avec Rosette. From 1942-44 he was Colonial Secretary of Gibraltar before returning to Nigeria as Senior Resident from 1942-44. From 1944-46 he held posts in Cyprus before being appointed Governor of the Falkland Islands.

He took a great interest in the work of the British Antarctic Survey and two places in the Continent bear his place: Clifford Glacier, Palmer Land and Clifford Peak on Anvers Island.

He was created a Knight of the British Empire in 1949 and retired from the Falklands post in 1954 returning to the United Kingdom.

In 1955 he was elected to the London County Council as a Conservative Party councillor representing St Marylebone, serving a three-year term.

References[]

  • Obituary: Sir Miles Clifford, KBE, CMG, ED, 1897-1986, The Geographical Journal Vol. 152, No. 2 (Jul., 1986), pp. 300–302
  • Who's Who

A photograph at the National Portrait Gallery is here [1] and details of his papers can be found here and here.

More information here

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