Edmund Charles Beard
Edmund Charles Beard, was a British Army officer during the First and Second World Wars and in 1946 was aide-de-camp to the king, George VI.Military career
Educated at Marlborough and Oxford University, Beard was commissioned in the Royal Irish Regiment in 1914. He served in the First World War at Gallipoli and in Salonika, Palestine and in France. He was Mentioned in Despatches, wounded and awarded the Military Cross in 1917.
Beard transferred to the Prince of Wales's Volunteers in 1922. He was a staff captain in India for the next four years and attended the Staff College, Camberley from 1927 to 1928. He served on the staff of Southern Command and then became Brigade Major for 9th Infantry Brigade in 1930 and then from 1933 served on the staff at the War Office. He transferred to the Duke of Wellington's Regiment in 1937 and commanded the 1st Battalion in 1939.
Beard became Assistant Adjutant and Quarter Master General with the 44th Division in France with the British Expeditionary Force. He became commander of the 133rd Infantry Brigade in England in 1940 and, promoted on 1 October 1940, with seniority backdated to 1 July 1938, to colonel, became Brigadier General Staff Home Forces in 1942. Promoted to major general in 1942, he held area command in India until 1946 when he retired from the army.
Beard was Colonel of the South Lancashire Regiment from 1948 to 1957.
His portrait as a major general is in the National Portrait Gallery in London
