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 ...

Sir Richard Erskine Ward, (15 October 1917 – 11 August 1989) 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 who served in 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 ...

with distinction and later became Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong.

Military career

Ward was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Royal Tank Corps (later Royal Tank Regiment) on 26 August 1937.Sir Richard Erskine Ward
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives He served in the

with the 5th Royal Tank Regiment from 1939 in the Western Desert and

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, taking part in the

Second Battle of El Alamein The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa had prevented th ...

and the Battle of Tunis in 1942. Ward was awarded 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 ...

in 1942, and the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...

and Bar in 1943. He was also Mentioned in Despatches on 24 June 1943. Ward was Brigade Major with the 4th Armoured Brigade during 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 France in 1944. He was appointed Commanding Officer of the

Westminster Dragoons The Westminster Dragoons (WDs) was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army Army Reserve, located in central London. Its lineage is continued by one of the Royal Yeomanry's six squadrons. Formed in the aftermath of Second Boer War as part of th ...

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

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

in 1952, for which he was again Mentioned in Despatches, before becoming Commanding Officer 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 C ...

in 1957. He was made commander of the 20th Armoured Brigade in 1963 and General Officer Commanding 1st Division in 1965. He went on to be Vice Adjutant-General in 1968 and was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath 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 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

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 Ministry of Defence from 1974. He was appointed a

Knight Grand Cross 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 o ...

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 Royal Tank Regiment from 1970 to 1975.

Later life and family

In retirement Ward presided over an Inquiry into revoking the planning permission, granted in 1973, to United Refineries Ltd for a proposed oil refinery on

Canvey Island Canvey Island is a town, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office for National Statistics. ( ...

which reported in March 1981. His findings concerning the

British Gas Corporation British Gas (trading as Scottish Gas in Scotland) is an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It is the trading name of British Gas Services Limited and British Gas New Heating Limited, both subsidiaries of Centrica. Serving ...

's methane terminal were disputed by the Health and Safety Executive 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