He stepped down as Chief of Defence Staff in 1985 after four decades spent climbing the ranks from 2nd Lieutenant right to the pinnacle of Britain's armed forces.
Lord Bramall first saw action on the Normandy beaches the day after D-Day, when he was shelled.
Everyone else in his vehicle died but he managed to crawl out. At first he thought he was on fire, but in fact he was badly wounded and was sent back to Britain for treatment.
Lord Bramall returned to his unit just five weeks later and was leading a patrol on the Dutch-Belgian border when he was ambushed.
Rather than flee, he led a counter-attack, and managed to wound two Germans and take another one captive. He was later awarded the Military Cross for his actions by Field Marshal Montgomery himself.
He led the Royal Green Jackets in Borneo in 1965, commanded British forces in Hong Kong in the 1970s and was made head of the Army in 1979.
Lord Bramall held that role during the Falklands War of 1982, and was a strong admirer of Margaret Thatcher. 'A wonderful war leader,' he said, 'probably even better than Churchill'. (more...)
Paedo-knighting Thatcher 'a wonderful war leader probably even better than Churchill'. So he can kiss butts as well as slap them.
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