Edwin Bramall, Baron Bramall

"Bramall" redirects here. For the hall in Greater Manchester, see Bramall Hall. For the area containing the hall, see Bramhall.

Field Marshal The Lord Bramall
Lord Bramall in the robes of a Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter
Born	18 December 1923 (1923-12-18) (age 87)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1942-1985
Rank	Field Marshal
Commands held	2nd Royal Green Jackets 5th (Airportable) Infantry Brigade 1st Division Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong UK Land Forces
Battles/wars	World War II Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation
Awards	Knight of the Order of the Garter Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Officer of the Order of the British Empire Military Cross

Field Marshal Edwin Noel Westby Bramall, Baron Bramall KG, GCB, OBE, MC, DL, JP (born 18 December 1923) is a British Army officer who served as Chief of the General Staff, 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.

Family

Bramall was born in Tonbridge, Kent, the son of Edmund H and Katherine B (née Westby) Bramall. He is known within his family and to his friends as Dwin. His older brother Ashley Bramall became a barrister, Labour politician and Leader of the Inner London Education Authority, but Bramall decided on a military career early in life.

Army career

After attending Eton College he was commissioned into the King's Royal Rifle Corps in 1943.^[1] He served with his regiment in Northwest Europe during the later stages of World War II, receiving the Military Cross for valour in 1945. For two years after the war's end, he served in the occupation of Japan, then served as a peacetime instructor at the School of Infantry. From 1953 to 1958, he was stationed in the Middle East.^[2]

Continuing his military career, he served two years as an instructor at the Army Staff College, then in 1963 was appointed to serve on Lord Mountbatten's staff.^[2]

In 1965 he was appointed Commanding Officer of 2nd Royal Green Jackets which was deployed to Malaysia during the confrontation with Indonesia^[2] and in 1967 he was given command of 5th (Airportable) Infantry Brigade.^[2]

He was quickly promoted throughout the 1970s to major-general as General Officer Commanding the 1st Division in 1972 and reaching the rank of lieutenant-general in 1973 as Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong and full general in 1976 as Commander-in-Chief, UK Land Forces. He was Vice Chief of the Defence Staff from 1978 to 1979 and Chief of the General Staff from 1979 to 1982. He was promoted to Field Marshal and appointed Chief of the Defence Staff in 1982, serving in that position for three years. Retirement from this post marked the end of his active military career.^[3]

Later career

After his retirement Bramall served as Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London from 1986 to 1998. He was created Baron Bramall, of Bushfield in the County of Hampshire, in 1987, then further invested as a Knight of the Garter (the United Kingdom's highest order of chivalry) in 1990. He was a former President of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)^[4] and is now an Honorary Life Vice President of the MCC.^[5]

Life peer

As a life peer, he spoke out in the House of Lords 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'.^[6]

On the 27 August 2006, the Mail on Sunday reported that Bramall hit Lord Janner, 78, a veteran campaigner for Holocaust victims and a senior member of Britain's Jewish community, after making what witnesses claim were a series of 'anti-Israel' comments during an argument over the Lebanon conflict. The newspaper reported that the incident took place in one of the rooms close to the debating chamber and the peers who witnessed the incident were extremely shocked by Bramall's behavior. The newspaper reported that Bramall later apologised by phone to Lord Janner who accepted his apology. No action was taken by the Lords authorities and Lord Janner has made no complaint.^[7]

Following the leak of a purported list of members of the far-right British National Party in October 2009 there was a short-lived claim that Lord Bramall was a member of the party, due to the appearance of a "Lord Bramhall" on the list. There is no such peer in the House of Lords and Lord Bramall swiftly denied being a member, while his naming as such was rapidly acknowledged to be a case of mistaken identity.^[8]

Arms

References

1. ^ Heathcote, Anthony pg 53
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Heathcote, Anthony pg 54
3. ^ Heathcote, Anthony pg 55
4. ^ News story naming Lord Bramall as former President of Marylebone Cricket Club
5. ^ Official biography
6. ^ "House of Lords Debates". 2004-05-26. http://www.theyworkforyou.com/lords/?id=2004-05-26a.1330.0&m=100327. Retrieved 2007-05-26. 
7. ^ "War hero, 82, hits fellow peer in Lords". Mail on Sunday. http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=402473&in_page_id=1770&in_a_source=. Retrieved 2007-07-20. 
8. ^ Weaver, Matthew (20 October 2009). "BNP controversy – live". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2009/oct/20/bnp-controversies-live. "I'm completely apolitical and I've had no involvement with the BNP. [...] I'm the last person who would have anything to do with them. I fought fascism in the second world war. People do have views of every sort in a democracy, but many of the BNP's views are very unattractive." 
   Wikileaks (20 October 2009). "Twitter / Wikileaks: 'Lord Bramhall' in BNP lis ...". http://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/5017905232. 
   "Guardian confuse former Chief of Defence Staff with BNP amateur genealogist". Political Scrapbook. 20 October 2009. http://politicalscrapbook.net/tag/edwin-bramall/. 
9. ^ Chesshyre, Hubert (1996), The Friends of St. George's & Descendants of the Knights of the Garter Annual Review 1995/96, VII, pp. 289 

Further reading

• Tillotson, Michael (2006), The Fifth Pillar: the life and philosophy of the Lord Bramall K.G., Sutton Publishing, ISBN 0-7509-4239-8
• Heathcote, T.A. (1999), The British Field Marshals 1736-1997, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, ISBN 0-85052-696-5

Military offices
Preceded by Jack Harman	General Officer Commanding the 1st Division 1972–1973	Succeeded by David Alexander-Sinclair
Preceded by Sir Richard Ward	Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong 1973–1976	Succeeded by Sir John Archer
Preceded by Sir Roland Gibbs	Commander in Chief, UK Land Forces 1976–1978	Succeeded by Sir John Archer
Preceded by Sir Anthony Morton	Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff 1978–1979	Succeeded by Sir Patrick Howard-Dobson
Preceded by Sir Roland Gibbs	Chief of the General Staff 1979–1982	Succeeded by Sir John Stanier
Preceded by Sir Terence Lewin	Chief of the Defence Staff 1982–1985	Succeeded by Sir John Fieldhouse
Honorary titles
Preceded by The Baroness Phillips	Lord Lieutenant of Greater London 1986–1998	Succeeded by Peter Imbert

Persondata
Name	Bramall, Edwin Noel Westby, Baron Bramall
Alternative names	Bramall, Lord
Short description	British Field Marshal, Chief of General Staff, Chief of Defence Staff
Date of birth	18 December 1923
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death