Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Thomas Boswall Beach (28 May 1866 – 3 April 1941) was

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer during the

South African War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

and

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Life

Born at Brompton on 28 May 1866, the elder son of the Rev. Canon W. R. Beach, Chaplain to the Forces, and was educated at Bloxham School (1880–84) and at King's College Hospital, where he gained the Warneford Scholarship and worked under

Joseph Lister Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, (5 April 182710 February 1912) was a British surgeon, medical scientist, experimental pathologist and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventative medicine. Joseph Lister revolutionised the craft of s ...

. He took the

M.R.C.S. Membership of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (MRCS) is a postgraduate diploma for surgeons in the UK and Ireland. Obtaining this qualification allows a doctor to become a member of one of the four surgical colleges in the UK and Ireland, namel ...

, L.R.C.P. in 1899 and, after serving as house-physician at King's, entered the Army as surgeon in 1891, passing first both into and out of Netley. There he gained the Herbert Prize allotted to the best man of the term and the Montefiore Medal and Prize for Military Surgery. He was the brother of

William Henry Beach William Henry Beach (1871 – 22 July 1952) was a senior British Army officer who played an important role in the campaign in Mesopotamia 1915 to 1918. Early life and education William Henry Beach, universally known as Bill Beach, was the so ...

Military career

Boswall became lieutenant-colonel in 1912,

in 1915, went on half-pay in August, 1919, and retired four months later. He served in the

in 1899-1902, when he took part in the advance on Kimberley, including the actions at Belmont, Enslin, Modder River, and Magersfontein; and in operations in the Orange River Colony, including the actions at Paardeberg, Poplar Grove, Driefontein, Vet River, and Zand River; in the Transvaal, in the actions at Pretoria, Johannesburg, and Diamond Hill; and in Cape Colony. He was mentioned in dispatches in 1901, received the Queen's medal with seven clasps and the King's medal with two clasps, and was promoted major. In the war of 1914-18 he was mentioned in dispatches in 1916 and received the C.M.G. in the same year and the

C.B.E. 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 o ...

in 1918, after serving as A.D.M.S. at Alexandria. He had been a member of the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headquar ...

for fifty years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beach, Thomas Boswall 1866 births 1941 deaths Military personnel from London British Army personnel of World War I British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George People educated at Bloxham School Royal Army Medical Corps officers