Edwin Bramall, Baron Bramall

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Lord Bramall in the robes of a Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter

Field Marshal Edwin Noel Westby Bramall, Baron Bramall KG GCB OBE MC 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.

Bramall is known within the family and to 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.

After attending Eton College he was commissioned into the King's Royal Rifle Corps. He served 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.

Continuing his military career, he served two years as an instructor at the Army Staff College, then served on Lord Mountbatten's staff. He was quickly promoted throughout the 1970s, reaching the rank of lieutenant-general in 1973 and full General in 1976. He served as Commander in Chief of UK Land Forces from 1976 to 1978, Vice Chief of the Defence Staff from 1978 to 1979, and as 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.

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 in the Knight of the Garter (the United Kingdom's highest order of chivalry) in 1990.

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'

On the 27th August 2006, the London Evening Standard 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.

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