General Sir Richard Erskine Ward, (15 October 1917 – 11 August 1989) was a British Army officer who served in the Second World War with distinction and later became Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong.

Military career

Ward was commissioned as a

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into the Royal Tank Corps (later

Royal Tank Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as th ...

) on 26 August 1937.Sir Richard Erskine Ward
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives He served in the Second World War with the

5th Royal Tank Regiment 5th Royal Tank Regiment (5 RTR) was an armoured regiment of the British Army in existence for 52 years, from 1917 until 1969. It was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps. It originally saw action as E Battalion ...

from 1939 in the Western Desert and North Africa, taking part in the Second Battle of El Alamein and the

Battle of Tunis The Battle of the Bagradas River (the ancient name of the Medjerda), also known as the Battle of Tunis, was a victory by a Carthaginian army led by Xanthippus over a Roman army led by Marcus Atilius Regulus in the spring of 255 BC, nine y ...

in 1942. Ward was awarded the Military Cross in 1942, and the Distinguished Service Order and

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in 1943. He was also

Mentioned in Despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

on 24 June 1943. Ward was Brigade Major with the 4th Armoured Brigade during the Normandy landings in France in 1944. He was appointed

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of the Westminster Dragoons in 1945, and Mentioned in Despatches on 9 August for his services in North-West Europe. Ward was appointed a Knight of the Order of Leopold II and awarded the

Croix de guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

from the Belgian government in 1947. Ward served with 1st

in the Korean War in 1952, for which he was again Mentioned in Despatches, before becoming

of the

3rd Royal Tank Regiment The 3rd Royal Tank Regiment (3 RTR) was an armoured regiment of the British Army in existence from 1917 until 1992. It was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps. It originally saw action as C Battalion, Tank Corp ...

in 1957. He was made commander of the

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in 1963 and General Officer Commanding 1st Division in 1965. He went on to be Vice Adjutant-General in 1968 and was appointed a

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in the

1969 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1969 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lond ...

. Ward became Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong in 1970, and was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the

1971 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1971 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lond ...

. His final post was as Chief of Personnel and Logistics at the

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from 1974. He was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in the

1976 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1976 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1976 to celebra ...

, and retired from the army on 24 May that year. Ward was also Colonel Commandant of the

from 1970 to 1975.

Later life and family

In retirement Ward presided over an

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into revoking the planning permission, granted in 1973, to United Refineries Ltd for a proposed oil refinery on Canvey Island which reported in March 1981. His findings concerning the British Gas Corporation's methane terminal were disputed by the

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and the British Gas Corporation and there were doubts about his technical competence: he had conducted the inquiry without the benefit of technical assessors, and had exceeded his terms of reference. Ward married Stella Elizabeth Ellis in 1947, with whom he had two sons and two daughters. His estate was worth £122,280 net.The Times, 10 February 1990, p.12

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Richard 1917 births 1989 deaths British Army generals British Army personnel of the Korean War British Army personnel of World War II Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights of the Order of Leopold II People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium) Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Tank Regiment officers Westminster Dragoons officers