Field Marshal Edwin Noel Westby Bramall, Baron Bramall, (18 December 1923 – 12 November 2019) was a

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. He served as

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ( United States) * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Af ...

, the professional head of the British Army, between 1979 and 1982, and as Chief of the Defence Staff, professional head of the British Armed Forces, from 1982 to 1985.

Early life and family

Bramall was born on 18 December 1923 in

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated populat ...

, Kent, England, the son of Major Edmund Haselden Bramall (1889−1964) (son of Ernest Edward Bramall (1864–1938), managing director of Desford Colliery, Leicester) by his wife Katherine Bridget Westby.'' Who's Who 2010'', A & C Black, 2010, He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

. In 1949 he married Dorothy Avril Wentworth Vernon, by whom he had one son and one daughter. His elder brother

Ashley Bramall Sir Ernest Ashley Bramall (6 January 1916 – 10 February 1999) was a British Labour Party politician, Member of Parliament for Bexley from 1946 to 1950 and Leader of the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) for 11 years. Family and early c ...

was a barrister, Labour politician and Leader of the

Inner London Education Authority The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was an ad hoc local education authority for the City of London and the 12 Inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990. The authority was reconstituted as a directly elected body corp ...

Military career

Bramall was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the King's Royal Rifle Corps on 22 May 1943, during 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 ...

. He took part in the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

in June 1944 and served with the 2nd Battalion of his regiment in Northwest Europe during the later stages of the war, receiving the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

on 1 March 1945, shortly before the end of World War II in Europe. Bramall was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

on 18 June 1946 and served in the occupation of Japan from 1946, before becoming an instructor at the

School of Infantry A School of Infantry provides training in weapons and infantry tactics to infantrymen of a nation's military forces. Schools of infantry include: Australia *Australian Army – School of Infantry, Lone Pine Barracks at Singleton, NSW. France ...

in 1949. Promoted to captain on 18 December 1950, he was stationed in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

from 1953 and was then promoted to major on 18 December 1957. 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. Operation Overlord (the Normandy Landings)- D-day 6 June 1944 B5245

Operation Overlord (the Normandy Landings)- D-day 6 June 1944 B5245

Appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the

1965 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1965 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 ...

, and promoted to lieutenant colonel on 25 January 1965, he was appointed Commanding Officer of the 2nd Green Jackets, The King's Royal Rifle Corps: the Battalion was deployed to

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation in the first half of 1966 where his actions earned him a

mention 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 ...

. He was given command of the 5th (Airportable) Infantry Brigade in November 1967 with promotion to

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

on 31 December 1967. Bramall was made General Officer Commanding the 1st Division on 6 January 1972, with the substantive rank of

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 ...

from 6 April 1972, Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong with the rank of

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

on 1 December 1973 and 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 ...

in the 1974 New Year Honours. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief, UK Land Forces on 15 May 1976 and was promoted to full

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

on 25 June 1976. Field Marshal Bramall 2

He was appointed Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff (Personnel and Logistics) on 20 March 1978, advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1979 New Year Honours, before being made ADC General to

the Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

on 26 June 1979 and appointed

on 14 July 1979. In this role he strongly supported the plan in May 1982 to land troops at

San Carlos Water San Carlos Water is a bay/fjord on the west coast of East Falkland, facing onto the Falkland Sound. Name Despite its Spanish-sounding name, there is a wide discrepancy with the Spanish usage, for in Spanish "Estrecho de San Carlos" refers ...

and then advance rapidly from those positions at the early stages of the Falklands War. Bramall was promoted to field marshal on 1 August 1982, and appointed Chief of the Defence Staff on 1 October that year. In this capacity he developed the concept of the "Fifth Pillar" pulling together the activities of defence

attaché In diplomacy, an attaché is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified accord ...

s to form a structure for intervention in smaller countries. He retired in November 1985. 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) The 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) was a rifle regiment of the British Indian Army before being transferred to the British Army on India's independence in 1947. The 4th Battalion joined the Indian Army as the 5th Ba ...

from 14 September 1976 and Colonel Commandant of the Special Air Service from 19 May 1985.

Later career

Following his retirement from active military duty Bramall served as Lord Lieutenant of Greater London from 1986 to 1998. He was invested as a

Knight of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George ...

in 1990. He served as President of the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

(MCC) in 1988. and was an Honorary Life Vice President of the MCC. His other interests included

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

and

travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...

and he was a Vice-President of the welfare organisation

SSAFA SSAFA – the Armed Forces charity, the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association, is a UK charity that provides lifelong support to serving men and women and veterans from the British Armed Forces and their families or dependents. Anyone ...

Forces Help. Bramall was created a life peer as Baron Bramall of Bushfield in the County of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

in 1987. Bramall spoke out in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

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". On 27 August 2006 it was reported that Bramall, then aged 82, hit Lord Janner, then 78, after Bramall made what witnesses claim were a series of "anti-Israel" comments during an argument over the Lebanon conflict. Janner sought the advice of fellow peers about how and whether to make a formal complaint against Bramall, before deciding to accept an apology after which Janner said the matter was resolved. On 25 April 2013 Bramall retired from service in the House of Lords. He died at the age of 95 on 12 November 2019.

Operation Midland

Bramall was one of several senior establishment figures targeted by Carl Beech, a convicted perjurer. Following invented complaints by Beech, on 4 March 2015, officers of the Metropolitan Police searched Bramall's house near Farnham as part of the

Operation Midland Operation Midland was a criminal investigation which the London Metropolitan Police carried out between November 2014 and March 2016 in response to false allegations of historic child abuse made by Carl Beech. The operation focused on investiga ...

child sexual abuse investigation. Bramall released a statement after the search, saying: "Categorically, never have I had a connection or anything to do with the matters being investigated." On 30 April 2015, under the same investigation, Lord Bramall attended a police station in Surrey by appointment. While officers interviewed him for two hours, they did not charge or arrest him. On 15 January 2016, the police confirmed that there was insufficient evidence to bring any charges and he would face no further action. Bramall's wife Lady Bramall died in July 2015, without knowing that he would not be charged. In October 2016, after what ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' described as a "chorus of calls" for an official apology to Lord Bramall, the

Metropolitan Police Commissioner The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis is the head of London's Metropolitan Police Service. Sir Mark Rowley was appointed to the post on 8 July 2022 after Dame Cressida Dick announced her resignation in February. The rank of Commission ...

Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe Bernard Hogan-Howe, Baron Hogan-Howe, (born 25 October 1957) is an English former police officer and was the head of London's Metropolitan Police as Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 2011 until 2017. Born in Sheffield, Hogan-Howe ...

apologised to Bramall. 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." Beech went on trial for 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of fraud in May 2019. He was convicted on all charges, and was sentenced to 18 years in prison in July 2019. The court was told that "immeasurable distress" had been caused to those falsely accused as well as "obvious reputational damage". 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

eech Eetch (otherwise known as eech, itch, metch or one of several other variations) is a traditional Armenian side dish, salad or spread, similar to tabbouleh. Eetch can be eaten either at room temperature or warm. Its typical red colour is derive ...

that formed the basis of Operation Midland."

Arms

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Imperial War Museum Interview
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bramall, Edwin 1923 births 2019 deaths

Edwin The name Edwin means "rich friend". It comes from the Old English elements "ead" (rich, blessed) and "ƿine" (friend). The original Anglo-Saxon form is Eadƿine, which is also found for Anglo-Saxon figures. People * Edwin of Northumbria (die ...

British Army personnel of World War II British field marshals

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Chiefs of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom) Chiefs of the General Staff (United Kingdom) Crossbench life peers English victims of crime King's Royal Rifle Corps officers Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knights of the Garter Knights of the Order of St John Lord-Lieutenants of Greater London Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Eton College People from Tonbridge Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Green Jackets officers Academics of the Staff College, Camberley Military personnel from Kent Life peers created by Elizabeth II