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 (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

Mervyn Noel Samuel McCord,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

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

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

who served with distinction during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

and rose to be

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

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 Armagh ( ; , , " Macha's height") is a city and the county town of County Armagh, in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Primates of All ...

County Armagh County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...

, 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 light 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 ...

. 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 The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

to read Medicine but left after one year of study.

Military career

McCord received his military training at the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

. 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 or roll 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 also may be used in civilian organizations. National identificati ...

407952. His first tour was in 1950/51 to

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

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 until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

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 Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 16 December 1951 and to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

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

British Army of the Rhine British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was the name given to British Army occupation forces in the Rhineland, West Germany, after the First and Second World Wars, and during the Cold War, becoming part of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) tasked ...

. Having attended the

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which ...

, he was promoted to

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

on 16 December 1962. In 1963, he was attached to the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), 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 re ...

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 most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

. 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 milita ...

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

United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

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

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. He served there as

chief operations officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the CEO, ...

at HQ Northern Ireland in

Lisburn Lisburn ( ; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with t ...

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 (), 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, and the United Kingdom who ...

, the

United Nations Korea Medal The United Nations Service Medal Korea (UNSMK) 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 the ...

, the General Service Medal and the

United Nations Service Medal The United Nations Service Medal Korea (UNSMK) 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 the ...

for UNFICYP. He was also awarded the

Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal () is a commemorative medal created in 1977 to mark the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. The medal is physically identical in all realms where it was awarded, save for Canada ...

. 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 The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(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 (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 light 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 ...

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