Edwin Bramall, Baron Bramall
Encyclopedia
Field Marshal
Edwin Noel Westby Bramall, Baron Bramall KG
, GCB
, OBE
, MC
, DL
, JP
(born 18 December 1923) is a British
Army officer who served as Chief of the General Staff
, the professional head of the British Army
, between 1979 and 1982, and as Chief of the Defence Staff
, professional head of the British Armed Forces
, from 1982 to 1985.
, Kent
, the son of Edmund H and Katherine B (née Westby) Bramall. He is known within his family and to his friends as Dwin. His older brother Ashley Bramall
became a barrister, Labour
politician and Leader of the Inner London Education Authority
, but Bramall decided on a military career early in life.
he was commissioned into the King's Royal Rifle Corps
in 1943. He served with his regiment in Northwest Europe during the later stages of World War II
, receiving the Military Cross
for valour in 1945. For two years after the war's end, he served in the occupation of Japan
, then served as a peacetime instructor at the School of Infantry
. From 1953 to 1958, he was stationed in the Middle East
.
Continuing his military career, he served two years as an instructor at the Army Staff College, then in 1963 was appointed to serve on Lord Mountbatten's
staff.
In 1965 he was appointed Commanding Officer
of 2nd Royal Green Jackets
which was deployed to Malaysia during the confrontation with Indonesia
and in 1967 he was given command of 5th (Airportable) Infantry Brigade.
He was quickly promoted throughout the 1970s to major-general as General Officer Commanding
the 1st Division in 1972 and reaching the rank of lieutenant-general in 1973 as Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong
and full general
in 1976 as Commander-in-Chief, UK Land Forces. He was Vice Chief of the Defence Staff from 1978 to 1979 and Chief of the General Staff
from 1979 to 1982. He was promoted to Field Marshal
and appointed Chief of the Defence Staff
in 1982, serving in that position for three years. Retirement from this post marked the end of his active military career.
from 1986 to 1998. He was created Baron Bramall, of Bushfield in the County of Hampshire
, in 1987, then further invested as a Knight of the Garter
(the United Kingdom's highest order of chivalry) in 1990. He was a former President of the Marylebone Cricket Club
(MCC) and is now an Honorary Life Vice President of the MCC.
, he spoke out in the House of Lords
against the involvement of the United Kingdom in the Second Iraq War warning that 'unlike naked aggression, terrorism cannot be defeated by massive military means' but by 'competent protection and positive diplomacy'.
On the 27 August 2006, the Mail on Sunday reported that Bramall hit Lord Janner
, 78, a veteran campaigner for Holocaust victims and a senior member of Britain's Jewish community, after making what witnesses claim were a series of 'anti-Israel' comments during an argument over the Lebanon conflict. The newspaper reported that the incident took place in one of the rooms close to the debating chamber and the peers who witnessed the incident were extremely shocked by Bramall's behavior. The newspaper reported that Bramall later apologised by phone to Lord Janner who accepted his apology. No action was taken by the Lords authorities and Lord Janner has made no complaint.
Following the leak of a purported list of members of the far-right British National Party
in October 2009 there was a short-lived claim that Lord Bramall was a member of the party, due to the appearance of a "Lord Bramhall" on the list. There is no such peer in the House of Lords and Lord Bramall swiftly denied being a member, while his naming as such was rapidly acknowledged to be a case of mistaken identity.
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Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
Edwin Noel Westby Bramall, Baron Bramall KG
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
, GCB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, MC
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
, DL
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
, JP
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
(born 18 December 1923) is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Army officer who served as Chief of the General Staff
Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)
Chief of the General Staff has been the title of the professional head of the British Army since 1964. The CGS is a member of both the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Army Board...
, the professional head of the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, between 1979 and 1982, and as Chief of the Defence Staff
Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom)
The Chief of the Defence Staff is the professional head of the British Armed Forces, a senior official within the Ministry of Defence, and the most senior uniformed military adviser to the Secretary of State for Defence and the Prime Minister...
, professional head of the British Armed Forces
British Armed Forces
The British Armed Forces are the armed forces of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.Also known as Her Majesty's Armed Forces and sometimes legally the Armed Forces of the Crown, the British Armed Forces encompasses three professional uniformed services, the Royal Navy, the...
, from 1982 to 1985.
Family
Bramall was born in TonbridgeTonbridge
Tonbridge is a market town in the English county of Kent, with a population of 30,340 in 2007. It is located on the River Medway, approximately 4 miles north of Tunbridge Wells, 12 miles south west of Maidstone and 29 miles south east of London...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, the son of Edmund H and Katherine B (née Westby) Bramall. He is known within his family and to his friends as Dwin. His older brother Ashley Bramall
Ashley Bramall
Sir Ashley Bramall was a British Labour Party politician, Member of Parliament for Bexley from 1946 to 1950 and Leader of the Inner London Education Authority for 11 years.-Family and early career:...
became a barrister, Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
politician and Leader of the Inner London Education Authority
Inner London Education Authority
The Inner London Education Authority was the education authority for the 12 inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990.-History:...
, but Bramall decided on a military career early in life.
Army career
After attending Eton CollegeEton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
he was commissioned into the King's Royal Rifle Corps
King's Royal Rifle Corps
The King's Royal Rifle Corps was a British Army infantry regiment, originally raised in colonial North America as the Royal Americans, and recruited from American colonists. Later ranked as the 60th Regiment of Foot, the regiment served for more than 200 years throughout the British Empire...
in 1943. He served with his regiment in Northwest Europe during the later stages of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, receiving the Military Cross
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
for valour in 1945. For two years after the war's end, he served in the occupation of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, then served as a peacetime instructor at the School of Infantry
School of Infantry
A School of Infantry provides training in weapons and infantry tactics to infantrymen of a nation's military forces.Schools of infantry include: Australia*Australian Army - School of Infantry, Lone Pine Barracks at Singleton, NSW. France...
. From 1953 to 1958, he was stationed in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
.
Continuing his military career, he served two years as an instructor at the Army Staff College, then in 1963 was appointed to serve on Lord Mountbatten's
Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma
Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas George Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC, FRS , was a British statesman and naval officer, and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
staff.
In 1965 he was appointed Commanding Officer
Commanding officer
The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...
of 2nd Royal Green Jackets
Royal Green Jackets
The Royal Green Jackets was an infantry regiment of the British Army, one of two "large regiments" within the Light Division .-History:...
which was deployed to Malaysia during the confrontation with Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
and in 1967 he was given command of 5th (Airportable) Infantry Brigade.
He was quickly promoted throughout the 1970s to major-general as General Officer Commanding
General Officer Commanding
General Officer Commanding is the usual title given in the armies of Commonwealth nations to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC II Corps or GOC 7th Armoured Division...
the 1st Division in 1972 and reaching the rank of lieutenant-general in 1973 as Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong
Commander British Forces in Hong Kong
The Commander British Forces in Hong Kong was a senior British Army officer who acted as Military Advisor to the Governor of Hong Kong.-Structure:...
and full general
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
in 1976 as Commander-in-Chief, UK Land Forces. He was Vice Chief of the Defence Staff from 1978 to 1979 and Chief of the General Staff
Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)
Chief of the General Staff has been the title of the professional head of the British Army since 1964. The CGS is a member of both the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Army Board...
from 1979 to 1982. He was promoted to Field Marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
and appointed Chief of the Defence Staff
Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom)
The Chief of the Defence Staff is the professional head of the British Armed Forces, a senior official within the Ministry of Defence, and the most senior uniformed military adviser to the Secretary of State for Defence and the Prime Minister...
in 1982, serving in that position for three years. Retirement from this post marked the end of his active military career.
Later career
After his retirement Bramall served as Lord-Lieutenant of Greater LondonLord Lieutenant of Greater London
The Lord Lieutenant of Greater London is Her Majesty's representative in Greater London, including the 32 London boroughs.This is a complete list of Lord Lieutenants of Greater London in the United Kingdom....
from 1986 to 1998. He was created Baron Bramall, of Bushfield in the County of Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, in 1987, then further invested as a Knight of the Garter
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
(the United Kingdom's highest order of chivalry) in 1990. He was a former President of the Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
(MCC) and is now an Honorary Life Vice President of the MCC.
Life peer
As a life peerLife peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
, he spoke out in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
against the involvement of the United Kingdom in the Second Iraq War warning that 'unlike naked aggression, terrorism cannot be defeated by massive military means' but by 'competent protection and positive diplomacy'.
On the 27 August 2006, the Mail on Sunday reported that Bramall hit Lord Janner
Greville Janner
Greville Ewan Janner, Baron Janner of Braunstone is a British Labour politician, lawyer and author. A QC since 1971, he was a Labour MP from 1970 to 1997...
, 78, a veteran campaigner for Holocaust victims and a senior member of Britain's Jewish community, after making what witnesses claim were a series of 'anti-Israel' comments during an argument over the Lebanon conflict. The newspaper reported that the incident took place in one of the rooms close to the debating chamber and the peers who witnessed the incident were extremely shocked by Bramall's behavior. The newspaper reported that Bramall later apologised by phone to Lord Janner who accepted his apology. No action was taken by the Lords authorities and Lord Janner has made no complaint.
Following the leak of a purported list of members of the far-right British National Party
British National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
in October 2009 there was a short-lived claim that Lord Bramall was a member of the party, due to the appearance of a "Lord Bramhall" on the list. There is no such peer in the House of Lords and Lord Bramall swiftly denied being a member, while his naming as such was rapidly acknowledged to be a case of mistaken identity.
Further reading
- Tillotson, Michael (2006), The Fifth Pillar: the life and philosophy of the Lord Bramall K.G., Sutton Publishing, ISBN 0-7509-4239-8
- Heathcote, T.A. (1999), The British Field Marshals 1736-1997, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, ISBN 0-85052-696-5
External links
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