Major General Simon Howe Brooks-Ward, is a British event organiser and former senior Army Reserve officer. Through his company, The HPower Group, he is most well known for organising large-scale equestrian events worldwide.

Military career

Brooks-Ward was commissioned into the

Royal Yeomanry The Royal Yeomanry (RY) is the senior reserve cavalry regiment of the British Army. Equipped with Supacat Jackal variants, their role is to conduct mounted and dismounted formation reconnaissance. The Regimental Headquarters is located in Leice ...

on 4 October 1987. He served in the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

as the Commanding Officer of the Royal Yeomanry, the only Army Reserve unit to receive a battle honour during the conflict. In 2004 he was awarded the

Territorial Decoration __NOTOC__ The Territorial Decoration (TD) was a military medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Territorial Army. This award superseded the Volunteer O ...

, and in 2005 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) for services in Iraq and to defence. He was subsequently Colonel Yeomanry at Headquarters

Royal Armoured Corps The Royal Armoured Corps is the armoured arm of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 and the Warrior tracked armoured vehicle. It includes most of the Ar ...

and Colonel TA 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 ...

. In January 2012 he was promoted to brigadier and was appointed Assistant Divisional Commander of

3rd (United Kingdom) Division The 3rd (United Kingdom) Division, also known as The Iron Division, is a regular army division of the British Army. It was created in 1809 by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, for service in the P ...

in Bulford. In October 2015 he was promoted to major general and took over as Deputy Commander Field Army, the most senior position in the Army Reserve. He retired in June 2022. He was appointed Colonel Commandant of the Yeomanry Royal Armoured Corps Army Reserve on 1 January 2024. Brooks-Ward was appointed

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) in the

2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

Event organiser

Brooks-Ward arranged his first major event at the age of 27, directing the

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

horse show in Italy. He has subsequently become the director of the

Olympia London International Horse Show The London International Horse Show, formerly the Olympia London International Horse Show, is one of the UK's biggest equestrian competitions. It is best known as the host of the UK legs of the FEI World Cup series in dressage, show jumping and ...

and the Royal Windsor Horse Show, as well as numerous other major equestrian events. In addition, Brooks-Ward was the Equestrian Adviser at the

2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony The opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics was held on August 13, 2004 starting at 20:45 EEST (UTC+3) at the Olympic Stadium in Marousi, Greece, a suburb of Athens. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proceedings combined the forma ...

, and the site selection and feasibility plans for London 2012, the 2008 TA100 National Pageant, the Windsor Castle Royal Tattoo, the 2012 Diamond Jubilee Pageant, and the BAFTA Award Winning Queen's 90th Birthday Celebrations at Windsor. The HPower Group was the delivery company for the three First World War 100 year anniversary Commemorations; 2015 at St Symphorien Cemetery, Mons, 2016 Somme, and 2017 Passchendaele Commemorations. His involvement in many British state ceremonial occasions led to him being honoured as a

Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the ...

in 2002. He was promoted to Commander in the same order in the

2012 Diamond Jubilee Honours The list of Diamond Jubilee Honours 2012 was released on 13 September 2012 and made appointments and promotions within the Royal Victorian Order (and awards of the Royal Victorian Medal) to recognise contributions to the celebration of the Diamo ...

in recognition of his services during the

Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II The year 2012 marked the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II being the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. The only diamond jubilee celebration for any of Elizabeth's predecessors was in 1897, for Queen Victo ...

. Brooks-Ward was involved in organising national celebrations for the Queen's 90th birthday in May 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks-Ward, Simon Living people British Army major generals British businesspeople Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Royal Yeomanry officers Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century British Army personnel British Army personnel of the Iraq War