Air Marshal Sir George Robert Beamish, (29 April 1905 – 13 November 1967) was a senior commander in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

from the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

to his retirement in the late 1950s. Prior to the Second World War, while Beamish was in the RAF, he was a keen

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player, playing for Leicester and being capped 26 times for

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and was selected for the 1930 British Lions tour. He was also the chairman of the RAF Rugby Union and an Air Force rugby selector.

Personal history

George Beamish was born in

Dunmanway Dunmanway (, official Irish name: ) is a market town in County Cork, in the southwest of Ireland. It is the geographical centre of the region known as West Cork. It is the birthplace of Sam Maguire, an Irish Protestant republican, for whom the ...

, Ireland on 29 April 1905. He attended the

Coleraine Academical Institution Coleraine Academical Institution (CAI and styled locally as Coleraine Inst) was a voluntary grammar school for boys in Coleraine, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Coleraine Academical Institution occupied a site on the Castlerock Road, ...

and he and his three younger brothers, Victor, Charles and

Cecil Cecil may refer to: People with the name * Cecil (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) * Cecil (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Canada *Cecil, Alberta, ...

were all accomplished sportsmen and went on to join the RAF, Charles also being capped by Ireland. From 1923 Beamish attended the RAF College, Cranwell as a flight cadet and after he was commissioned in late 1924, Beamish was posted as a pilot on No. 100 Squadron. In 1934 he was made Flight Commander of No. 45 Squadron and in 1936 he was made Squadron Leader. After attending RAF Staff College in 1937 he was attached to the Air Staff. In 1939 he was made Senior Operations Officer for Palestine and Transjordan. On 17 May 1941 he was appointed senior RAF officer on

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

overseeing the reception of units after their withdrawal from Greece. To aid him in this task he was allocated two RAF squadrons from Egypt, 30 and 205 to bolster the fighters already stationed on the island. But following the German Invasion of Crete this action turned into the defence of the island. Unable to convince the Army Commander of the need to defeat the invaders from the air, the island fell and Beamish ordered the RAF squadrons to withdraw to Egypt on 19 May. Beamish remained on Crete to assist

General Freyberg Lieutenant-General Bernard Cyril Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, (21 March 1889 – 4 July 1963) was a British-born New Zealand soldier and Victoria Cross recipient, who served as the 7th Governor-General of New Zealand from 1946 to 1952. Frey ...

, both men escaping the island aboard a Sunderland in late May. He was then appointed Senior Air Staff Officer first at Western Desert Air Force, then at North African Tactical Air Forces and then at

Second Tactical Air Force The RAF Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was one of three tactical air forces within the Royal Air Force (RAF) during and after the Second World War. It was made up of squadrons and personnel from the RAF, other British Commonwealth air forces ...

before progressing to the roles of Air Officer Commanding No. 44 Group and then No. 45 Group. After the war he became President of the RAF Selection Board and then Director of Weapons at the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

in 1947. He went on to be Commandant of the

Royal Air Force College Cranwell The Royal Air Force College (RAFC) is the Royal Air Force military academy which provides initial training to all RAF personnel who are preparing to become commissioned officers. The College also provides initial training to aircrew cadets and ...

in 1949, Air Officer Commanding, Air Headquarters Iraq in 1950 and Director-General of Personnel in 1952. His last appointments were as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at

Transport Command RAF Transport Command was a Royal Air Force command that controlled all transport aircraft of the RAF. It was established on 25 March 1943 by the renaming of the RAF Ferry Command, and was subsequently renamed RAF Air Support Command in 1967. ...

in 1954 and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at

Technical Training Command The United States Army Air Forces during World War II had major subordinate Commands below the Air Staff level. These Commands were organized along functional missions. One such Command was the Flying Training Command (FTC). It began as Air Corp ...

in 1955. In 1955, Beamish was appointed a

Knight Commander of the 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 medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as o ...

. He retired in 1958. In 1962 he was made

High Sheriff of County Londonderry The High Sheriff of County Londonderry is King Charles III's judicial representative in County Londonderry. Initially an office for lifetime, assigned by the ruling monarch, the High Sheriff became annually appointed from the Provisions of Oxfor ...

Rugby career

Beamish won his first international cap in 1925, at the age of 19, representing Ireland in that year's Home Nations Championship in a six all draw with

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. At the time he was representing Coleraine at club level. Beamish was then selected for the remaining games of the tournament, a home loss to Scotland and an impressive 19–3 win over

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. During the 1927–28 season, and now playing club rugby for Leicester, Beamish was approached to play for invitational touring team the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be les ...

. In 1928, nearly three years after his last international game, Beamish was recalled to the Ireland team. From the first game of the

1928 Five Nations Championship The 1928 Five Nations Championship was the fourteenth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship following the inclusion of France into the Home Nations Championship. Including the previous Home Nations Championships, this was the forty-f ...

until the end of the 1933 tournament Beamish was rarely out of the squad. In 1930 Beamish was selected for the British Isles team on their tour of Australia and New Zealand.George Beamish Lions profile
Lionsrugby.com He played in all five Tests and 17 of the regional matches, scoring two tries, one each against Otago and a joint Marlborough/Nelson Bay team. After the British tour Beamish returned to the Ireland squad for the 1931 Championship playing in all four games. He was then selected as Ireland team captain when the team faced the 1931 touring South African team in Dublin. He retained the captaincy for the

1932 Home Nations Championship The 1932 Home Nations Championship was the twenty-eighth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Five Nations, and prior to that, the Home Nations, this was the forty-fifth series of the nor ...

, and steered Ireland to their first Championship win for twenty years. The 1933 campaign was Beamish's last for Ireland, playing in all three games and captaining the team in a win over Wales. During his career, Beamish also played club rugby for

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

and was captain of the RAF rugby side.RAFRU History
RAF.mod.uk George Beamish is also credited with getting the green of Ireland represented in the kit currently worn by the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

. On the 1930 tour to New Zealand, of which he was a member, the tourists wore what was by then the standard blue jerseys. These themselves caused some controversy because the New Zealand side, by then already synonymous with the appellation "All Blacks", had an all black kit that clashed with the Lions' blue. After much reluctance and debate, but having to defer to the rugby custom of accommodating guests, New Zealand agreed to change for the Tests and the All Blacks became the All Whites for the first time. Also on that tour, a delegation led by George Beamish expressed their displeasure at the fact that whilst the blue of Scotland, white of England and red of Wales were represented in the strip there was no green for Ireland. A green flash was added to the socks, which from 1938 became a green turnover and that has remained a feature of the strip ever since.Richard Bath, ''The British & Irish Lions Miscellany'', page 77, 2008, (Vision Sports Publishing:London)

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Beamish, George Robert 1905 births 1967 deaths Military personnel from County Cork Rugby union players from County Cork People educated at Coleraine Academical Institution Graduates of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell Royal Air Force air marshals Royal Air Force rugby union players British Army personnel of World War II Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Ireland Leicester Tigers players Barbarian F.C. players London Irish players Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Order of the British Empire High Sheriffs of County Londonderry People from Dunmanway Gold crosses of the Order of George I Officers of the Legion of Merit Commandants of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell Rugby union number eights