Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

Mervyn Noel Samuel McCord,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, MC,

ADC ADC may refer to: Science and medicine * ADC (gene), a human gene * AIDS dementia complex, neurological disorder associated with HIV and AIDS * Allyl diglycol carbonate or CR-39, a polymer * Antibody-drug conjugate, a type of anticancer treatm ...

(25 December 19298 February 2013) was a decorated Irish officer of the

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 ...

who served with distinction during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

and rose to be Commanding Officer of the

Ulster Defence Regiment The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army established in 1970, with a comparatively short existence ending in 1992. Raised through public appeal, newspaper and television advertisements,Potter p25 their offi ...

Early life

McCord was born on 25 December 1929 in Armagh,

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of an ...

, Northern Ireland. He was the elder son of Major George McCord who had served with the

Royal Ulster Rifles The Royal Irish Rifles (became the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1 January 1921) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, first created in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot and the 86th (Royal County D ...

. He was educated at the

Coleraine Academical Institution Coleraine Academical Institution (CAI and styled locally as Coleraine Inst) was a voluntary grammar school for boys in Coleraine, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Coleraine Academical Institution occupied a site on the Castlerock Road, ...

. He then went to Queen's University Belfast to read Medicine but left after one year of study.

Military career

McCord received his military training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. While there he was captain of the cross-country team and represented the Academy in athletics. He was commissioned into the

as a second lieutenant on 16 December 1949 with seniority from the same date. He was given the

service number A service number is an identification code used to identify a person within a large group. Service numbers are most often associated with the military; however, they may be used in civilian organizations as well. National identification numbers may ...

407952. His first tour was in 1950/51 to

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

during the

with the 1st Battalion, Royal Ulster Rifles. He was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

for actions that occurred on the night of 1 to 2 January 1951. General Ridgway decided to withdraw behind the Han River to the south of their position following intense pressure from Chinese force. It was McCord's platoon that brought up the rear of the retreat. The valley through which they were retreating became a death trap when faced with a machine gun post. McCord rallied his troops to try and break through before finally charging the position with a comrade. They successfully destroyed the post making way for the continued retreat. He then lead his troops over the mountains to safety. His citation noted "''In his first action, which took place at night, McCord showed great powers of leadership and disregard for personal danger''" and "''his personal action undoubtedly helped to extricate a number of men from a situation in which they would otherwise have been killed or captured''". He was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

on 16 December 1951 and to captain on 16 December 1955. Following Korean were postings to Hong Kong and to the

British Army of the Rhine There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. Both formations had areas of responsibility located ...

. Having attended the Staff College, Camberley, he was promoted to major on 16 December 1962. In 1963, he was attached to the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also res ...

as an

exchange officer An exchange officer is a commissioned officer in a country's armed forces who is temporarily seconded either to a unit of the armed forces of another country or to another branch of the armed forces of their own country. The exchange officer will ...

. He was based at HQ Eastern Command in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

. He served in Canada as a logistics

staff officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military ...

. Near the end of his posting, he organised the first Canadian contingent to join the

United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) is a United Nations peacekeeping force that was established under United Nations Security Council Resolution 186 in 1964 to prevent a recurrence of fighting following intercommunal violen ...

. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 30 June 1970, and posted to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. He served there as

chief operations officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the " C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

HQ Northern Ireland HQ Northern Ireland was the formation responsible for the British Army in and around Northern Ireland. It was established in 1922 and disbanded, replaced by a brigade-level Army Reserve formation, 38 (Irish) Brigade, in 2009. History Ireland was ...

in Lisburn.

Honours and decorations

McCord was awarded the

(MC) on 10 July 1951 'in recognition of gallant and distinguished service in Korea'. He was awarded a number of

service medals A service medal is an award to individuals who participated in designated wars, campaigns, or expeditions, or who have fulfilled specific service requirements in a creditable manner. Service medals are sometimes also Campaign medals. Examples of ...

during his career; the

Korea Medal The Korea Medal (french: Médaille de Corée), sometimes referred to as the Queen's Korea Medal to distinguish it from the United Nations Service Medal, is a campaign medal created in 1951 to recognize troops from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, ...

, the

United Nations Korea Medal The United Nations Service Medal for Korea (UNKM) is an international military decoration established by the United Nations on December 12, 1950 as the United Nations Service Medal. The decoration was the first international award ever created by t ...

, the General Service Medal and the

United Nations Service Medal The United Nations Service Medal for Korea (UNKM) is an international military decoration established by the United Nations on December 12, 1950 as the United Nations Service Medal. The decoration was the first international award ever created by t ...

for UNFICYP. He was also awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal. In the 1974

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). He was promoted to

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) on 6 June 1978 'in recognition of distinguished service in Northern Ireland during the period 1 November 1977 – 31 January 1978'. He was appointed Aide-de-Camp to

the Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

(ADC) on 31 July 1981. He was Deputy Colonel of the

Royal Irish Rangers The Royal Irish Rangers (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd and 87th) was a regular infantry regiment of the British Army with a relatively short existence, formed in 1968 and later merged with the Ulster Defence Regiment in 1992 to form the Royal Iris ...

between 1 September 1976 and 1 September 1981. He was appointed Honorary Colonel of the same regiment on 27 August 1985. He served in that role until 27 August 1990 when he was succeeded by the then Major General Roger Wheeler.

References

External links

The Telegraph – obituaryThe Times – obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCord, Mervyn 1929 births 2013 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Military Cross People from Armagh (city) Ulster Defence Regiment officers Royal Irish Rangers officers British Army brigadiers People educated at Coleraine Academical Institution British Army personnel of the Korean War British military personnel of The Troubles (Northern Ireland) Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Royal Ulster Rifles officers