Field Marshal Sir John Lintorn Arabin Simmons (12 February 1821 – 14 February 1903) was a British Army officer. Early in his career he served as Inspector of Railways, Secretary of the Railways Commission and then Secretary of the Railway Department under the Board of Trade. He went on to be British Commissioner with the Turkish Army providing advice to General Omar Pasha during the Crimean War. He assisted the Turks at the defence of Silistra and then led them at the Battle of Giurgevo before landing with them at the Battle of Eupatoria and remaining with them for the Siege of Sevastopol. After that he became British Consul in Warsaw, Commander, Royal Engineers at Aldershot and then Director of the Royal Engineer Establishment in Chatham. He went on to be Lieutenant-Governor of the Royal Military Academy and subsequently Governor of the Academy. His last appointments were as Colonel Commandant of the Royal Engineers, as Inspector General of Fortifications and then as Governor of Malta. Military career Born the fifth son of Captain Thomas Frederick Simmons, RA and Mary Simmons (née Perry), Simmons was educated at Elizabeth College, Guernsey and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on 4 December 1837 and promoted to lieutenant on 15 October 1839. He was then deployed to Canada where he carried out survey work on the disputed border with the United States of America. Returning to the United Kingdom in 1845, Simmons became an instructor at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich with promotion to second captain on 9 November 1846. He was appointed Inspector of Railways in 1847, Secretary of the Railways Commission in 1850 and Secretary of the Railway Department under the Board of Trade in 1851. He investigated many railway accidents, perhaps the most famous of which was the Dee Bridge disaster in 1847. His report blamed the cast iron girders for the accident, which killed five passengers and crew. The accident was highly significant at the time because it had been designed by Robert Stephenson. In 1853, whilst on leave from his role with the Board of Trade, he was in Constantinople when Turkey declared war on Russia. The British Ambassador, Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, took up Simmons' offer of his services, requesting that he report on Turkish defences and their ability to resist a Russian advance. Promoted to captain on