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 William Gerald Hugh Beach, (20 May 1923 – 4 September 2019) 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, in retirement, researched and advised on defence policy, arms control and disarmament, with an interest in promoting concerns about ethical issues of peace and war.

Early life

Beach was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

, Peterhouse, Cambridge (MA 1961) and the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

(MSc 1971).

Military career

Beach joined the Corps of Royal Engineers in August 1941. He saw active service in France and Belgium in 1944 and in

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

in 1946. In Normandy he was ordered to clear a road of mines, but the first vehicle to use the road struck an undetected mine and was destroyed. He cleared the road again and rode on the next vehicle to use the road. In Belgium he was attached to the 11th Hussars. He was injured while reconnoitring a bridge, but insisted on filing a full report before being taken to hospital, enabling the British to capture the bridge. During the 1960s Beach commanded an engineer regiment and an infantry brigade, both at

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...

in Germany. In 1964 he reorganised the volunteer reserves. He was director of army staff duties at the Ministry of Defence from 1971 to 1973, commandant of the Staff College, Camberley from 1974 to 1975, and Deputy Commander-in-Chief UK Land Forces from 1976 to 1977 before becoming

Master-General of the Ordnance The Master-General of the Ordnance (MGO) was a very senior British military position from 1415 to 2013 (except 1855–1895 and 1939–1958) with some changes to the name, usually held by a serving general. The Master-General of the Ordnance was ...

(Army Board member for Procurement) from 1977 to 1981. Beach also served as Colonel of the

Royal Pioneer Corps The Royal Pioneer Corps was a British Army combatant corps used for light engineering tasks. It was formed in 1939, and amalgamated into the Royal Logistic Corps in 1993. Pioneer units performed a wide variety of tasks in all theatres of war, in ...

from 1976 to 1981.

Later life

Retiring from the army in 1981, Beach served as warden of St. George's House,

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original c ...

from 1981 to 1986, vice-Lord Lieutenant of Greater London from 1981 to 1987,

Chief Royal Engineer The Chief Royal Engineer (CRE) is the official head of the Corps of Royal Engineers of the British Army. Origin and development Before the English Restoration a Chief Engineer was a pay grade and not defined. In 1660 King Charles II appointed ...

from 1982 to 1987 and member of the

Security Commission The Security Commission, sometimes known as the Standing Security Commission,Geoffrey Philip Wilson, "Cases and materials on constitutional and administrative law", Cambridge University Press, 1976 p. 98. was a UK non-departmental public body or ...

from 1982 to 1991. He chaired Ministry of Defence Study Groups on Censorship in War in 1983 and Education in the Army in 1984. He was director of the Council for Arms Control from 1986 to 1989. He was a member of the Board of Governors of Monkton Combe School from 1984 to 1993. In the 1990s he was chairman of the governors of Gordon's and Bedales schools, and also chaired the boards of the

Church Army The Church Army is an evangelistic organisation and mission community founded in 1882 in association with the Church of England and now operating internationally in many parts of the Anglican Communion. History The Church Army was founded in E ...

and the

Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) is a UK-based Christian charity. Founded in 1698 by Thomas Bray, it has worked for over 300 years to increase awareness of the Christian faith in the UK and across the world. The SPCK is t ...

. Beach was a member of the board or executive committee of: the Council for Christian Approaches to Defence, the Centre for Defence Studies ( King's College London), the Verification Technology Information Centre (VERTIC), the International Security Information Service (ISIS), and of the British Pugwash Group. He lectured and contributed chapters to over two dozen books as well as publishing a number of monographs, articles and book reviews. In 1999 he co-authored, with Nadine Gurr, a book on British nuclear weapons policy and, in 2001, a briefing paper on cluster bombs, In January 2009, ''The Times'' newspaper published a joint letter from Field Marshal Lord Bramall, General

Lord Ramsbotham General David John Ramsbotham, Baron Ramsbotham, (6 November 1934 – 13 December 2022) was a British Army officer, who later served as HM Chief Inspector of Prisons. He was awarded a life peerage in 2005, and later sat on the crossbenches of t ...

and General Beach arguing that the UK government should fund more realistic military needs rather than perpetuate its Trident programme, arguing that: Beach died 4 September 2019 at age 96.

Personal life

Beach married Estelle Mary Henry, a doctor, in 1951. She died from an aortic embolism in 1989.

Honours

Beach held honorary Doctorate of Civil Laws from the

University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

in Canterbury (1990). He was an honorary fellow of

Peterhouse Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite o ...

, Cambridge and of the Chartered Institute of Building Service Engineers, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute.''Hugh Beach – A Memoir'' (ed) David Evans, (W. G. H. Beach, London, 2003)

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Beach, Hugh 1923 births 2019 deaths Military personnel from London Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British Army generals British Army personnel of World War II Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath People educated at Winchester College Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Engineers officers Place of birth missing Church Army people Commandants of the Staff College, Camberley Royal Pioneer Corps officers Governors of Monkton Combe School Deputy Lieutenants of Greater London