Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

Simon Howe Brooks-Ward, is a British event organiser and former senior

Army Reserve A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...

officer. Through his company, The HPower Group, he is most well known for organising large-scale equestrian events worldwide.

Military career

Brooks-Ward was commissioned into the

Royal Yeomanry The Royal Yeomanry (RY) is the senior reserve light cavalry regiment of the British Army. Equipped with Supacat Jackal variants, their role is to conduct mounted and dismounted formation reconnaissance. The Regimental Headquarters is located in ...

on 4 October 1987. He served in the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...

as the Commanding Officer of the Royal Yeomanry, the only Army Reserve unit to receive a battle honour during the conflict. In 2004 he was awarded the

Territorial Decoration __NOTOC__ The Territorial Decoration (TD) was a military medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Territorial Army. This award superseded the Volunteer Officer's Decoration when the Te ...

, and in 2005 he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services in Iraq and to defence. He was subsequently Colonel Yeomanry at Headquarters

Royal Armoured Corps The Royal Armoured Corps is the component of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Tank and the Scimitar Reconnaissance Vehicle. It includes most of the ...

and Colonel TA Training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. In January 2012 he was promoted to brigadier and was appointed Assistant Divisional Commander of

3rd (United Kingdom) Division The 3rd (United Kingdom) Division is a regular army division of the British Army. It was created in 1809 by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, for service in the Peninsular War, and was known as th ...

in Bulford. In October 2015 he was promoted to

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

and took over as Deputy Commander Field Army, the most senior position in the Army Reserve. He retired in June 2022. Brooks-Ward was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the

2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

Event organiser

Brooks-Ward arranged his first major event at the age of 27, directing the Luciano Pavarotti horse show in Italy. He has subsequently become the director of the

Olympia London International Horse Show Olympia London International Horse Show is one of the UK's biggest equestrian competitions, held at Olympia, London. It is best known for its showjumping, however it also has competitions in horse showing, driving, mounted games, dog agility and m ...

and the

Royal Windsor Horse Show The Royal Windsor Horse Show is a horse show held annually since 1943 for five days in May or June in Windsor Home Park.

, as well as numerous other major equestrian events. In addition, Brooks-Ward was the Equestrian Adviser at the

2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony The opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics was held on August 13, 2004 starting at 20:45 EEST (UTC+3) at the Olympic Stadium in Marousi, Greece, a suburb of Athens. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proceedings combined the formal ...

, and the site selection and feasibility plans for London 2012, the 2008 TA100 National Pageant, the Windsor Castle Royal Tattoo, the 2012

Diamond Jubilee Pageant The Diamond Jubilee Pageant, also branded ''The World Comes to Windsor'', held between 10 and 13 May 2012 was an equine pageant held in the grounds of Windsor Castle, organised as part of the Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebrati ...

, and the BAFTA Award Winning Queen's 90th Birthday Celebrations at Windsor. The HPower Group was the delivery company for the three First World War 100 year anniversary Commemorations; 2015 at St Symphorien Cemetery, Mons, 2016 Somme, and 2017 Passchendaele Commemorations. His involvement in many British state ceremonial occasions led to him being honoured as a

Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

in 2002. He was promoted to Commander in the same order in the

2012 Diamond Jubilee Honours The list of Diamond Jubilee Honours 2012 was released on 13 September 2012 and made appointments and promotions within the Royal Victorian Order (and awards of the Royal Victorian Medal) to recognise contributions to the celebration of the Diamond ...

in recognition of his services during the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. Brooks-Ward was involved in organising national celebrations for the Queen's 90th birthday in May 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks-Ward, Simon Living people British Army major generals British businesspeople Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Royal Yeomanry officers Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)