Edwin Bramall
The Lord Bramall | |
---|---|
Mentioned in despatches |
Early life and family
Bramall was born on 18 December 1923 in Tonbridge, Kent, England, the son of Major Edmund Haselden Bramall (1889−1964) (son of Ernest Edward Bramall (1864–1938), managing director of Desford Colliery, Leicester)[1] by his wife Katherine Bridget Westby.[2] He was educated at Eton College,[3] where, among other accomplishments, he captained an undefeated first XI cricket team.[4]
In 1949 he married Dorothy Avril Wentworth Vernon, by whom he had one son and one daughter.[2] His elder brother Ashley Bramall was a barrister, Labour politician and Leader of the Inner London Education Authority.[5]
Military career
Bramall was
Bramall was promoted to lieutenant on 18 June 1946[8] and served in the occupation of Japan from 1946, before becoming an instructor at the School of Infantry in 1949.[2] Promoted to captain on 18 December 1950,[9] he was stationed in the Middle East from 1953[10] and was then promoted to major on 18 December 1957.[11] Continuing his military career, he served two years as an instructor at the Staff College, Camberley, from 1958, and then was appointed to serve on Lord Mountbatten's staff in 1963.[10]
Appointed an
Bramall was made
He was appointed
Bramall was promoted to field marshal on 1 August 1982,[27] and appointed Chief of the Defence Staff on 1 October that year.[28] In this capacity he developed the concept of the "Fifth Pillar" pulling together the activities of defence attachés to form a structure for intervention in smaller countries.[3] He retired in November 1985.[15] He was also Colonel of the 3rd Battalion the Royal Green Jackets from December 1973, Colonel of the 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) from 14 September 1976[29] and Colonel Commandant of the Special Air Service from 19 May 1985.[30]
Later career
Following his retirement from active military duty Bramall served as
Bramall was created a life peer as Baron Bramall of Bushfield in the County of Hampshire in 1987.[36][37] Bramall 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".[38]
On 27 August 2006 it was reported that Bramall, then aged 82, hit
On 25 April 2013 Bramall retired from service in the House of Lords.[40] He died at the age of 95 on 12 November 2019, at his home in Crondall, Hampshire[41][42][43]
Operation Midland
Bramall was one of several senior establishment figures targeted by convicted perjurer
On 15 January 2016, the police confirmed that there was insufficient evidence to bring any charges and he would face no further action.
On 1 September 2017, it was reported that the Metropolitan Police had paid substantial compensation to Bramall for having raided his home "after accepting that the searches had been unjustified and should never have taken place."[51]
Beech was subsequently arrested and committed to stand trial on 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of fraud in May 2019; he was convicted on all charges, and in July 2019 was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment.[52] The court was told that "immeasurable distress" had been caused to those falsely accused as well as "obvious reputational damage".[53] Bramall said of the ordeal: "I can honestly say however I was never as badly wounded in all my time in the military as I have been by the allegations made by [Beech] that formed the basis of Operation Midland."[54]
Arms
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References
- ^ Obituary, The Times, 1 September 1938. page 1 col A
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4081-1414-8
- ^ a b c Heathcote 1999, p. 53.
- ^ Allan Mallinson (16 December 2017). "Wise Old Warhorse". Spectator. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
- ^ "Field Marshal The Lord Bramall of Bushfield". Royal Green Jackets Association. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
- ^ "No. 36074". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 June 1943. p. 2980.
- ^ "No. 36961". The London Gazette (Supplement). 27 February 1945. p. 1176.
- ^ "No. 37698". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 August 1946. p. 4238.
- ^ "No. 39093". The London Gazette (Supplement). 19 December 1950. p. 6320.
- ^ a b Heathcote 1999, p. 54.
- ^ "No. 41254". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 December 1957. p. 7346.
- ^ "No. 43529". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1964. p. 6.
- ^ "No. 43682". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 1965. p. 5687.
- ^ "No. 44196". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 December 1966. p. 13461.
- ^ a b c Heathcote 1999, p. 55.
- ^ "No. 44493". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1967. p. 74.
- ^ "No. 45569". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 January 1972. p. 347.
- ^ "No. 45641". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 April 1972. p. 4283.
- ^ "No. 46143". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 December 1973. p. 14387.
- ^ "No. 46162". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 1973. p. 2.
- ^ "No. 46901". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 May 1976. p. 7063.
- ^ "No. 46947". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 June 1976. p. 8989.
- ^ "No. 47493". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 March 1978. p. 3563.
- ^ "No. 47723". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1978. p. 2.
- ^ "No. 47911". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 July 1979. p. 9345.
- ^ "No. 47916". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 July 1979. p. 9695.
- ^ "No. 49069". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 August 1982. p. 10134.
- ^ "No. 49142". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 October 1982. p. 13571.
- ^ "No. 47012". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 September 1976. p. 12491.
- ^ "No. 50128". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 May 1985. p. 7058.
- ^ "No. 50422". The London Gazette. 5 February 1986. p. 1671.
- ^ "No. 52120". The London Gazette. 24 April 1990. p. 8251.
- ^ "British media wants Pak team to be sent home". cricketnext. 31 August 2010. Archived from the original on 2 September 2010. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
- ^ "About the MCC". Marylebone Cricket Club. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
- ^ "Official House of Lords Biography". House of Lords. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
- ^ "No. 50834". The London Gazette. 16 February 1987. p. 2023.
- ^ "No. 22092". The Edinburgh Gazette. 13 February 1987. p. 195.
- ^ "House of Lords Debates". 26 May 2004. Retrieved 26 May 2007.
- ^ "War hero, 82, hits fellow peer in Lords". London Evening Standard. 27 August 2006. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
- ^ "Retirement of a Member: Lord Bramall". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom: House of Lords. 25 April 2013. col. 1519.
- ^ "Field Marshal The Lord Bramall of Bushfield obituary". The Times. 12 November 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
- ^ "Lord Bramall: D-Day veteran and former military chief has died". Sky News.
- ^ Barrett, David (8 March 2015). "Police search home of Lord Bramall as part of paedophile sex abuse inquiry". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
- ^ Symonds, Tom (9 March 2015). "Ex-army chief Lord Bramall 'mystified' by police search of house". BBC News. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
- Press Association (30 April 2015). "Lord Bramall interviewed by police over historical child abuse claims". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ^ Rawlinson, Kevin (15 January 2016). "Lord Bramall 'will face no further action' in Operation Midland investigation". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
- ^ Robert Mendick (5 March 2017). "Exclusive: 'Met Police allowed my wife to die without knowing I was innocent'—Lord Bramall finally gets apology over child sex abuse claims". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ Robert Mendick (5 March 2017). "Met explains why it investigated Lord Bramall over child abuse allegations". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
- ^ "Lord Bramall 'receives Met Police apology' over abuse claims". BBC News. 5 March 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ Martin Evans, "Met Police pays compensation to Lord Bramall and Lady Brittan over disastrous Operation Midland investigation", The Daily Telegraph, 1 September 2017, accessed 2 September 2017.
- ^ "Carl Beech trial: 'VIP abuse' accuser guilty of false claims". BBC News. 22 July 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
- ^ "Man 'invented paedophile ring claims'". BBC News. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
- ^ Driver, Tony; Johnson, Jaimie; Dixon, Hayley (26 July 2019). "Met police 'fanned the flames' of Carl Beech's false allegations of Westminster paedophile ring". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
- ^ The Companion Magazine. College of St George. No. 15 (Summer–Autumn 2012), p. 5.
- ^ Chesshyre, Hubert (1996), The Friends of St. George's & Descendants of the Knights of the Garter Annual Review 1995/96, vol. VII, p. 289
Bibliography
- Heathcote, Tony (1999). The British Field Marshals 1736–1997. ISBN 0-85052-696-5.
- Tillotson, Major-General Michael (2006). The Fifth Pillar: the life and philosophy of the Lord Bramall K.G. Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-4239-8.
- Tillotson, Major-General Michael (2005). Dwin Bramall: The Authorised Biography of Field Marshal The Lord Bramall KG, GCB, OBE, MC. Sutton Publishing. ISBN 978-0750942386.