Sir Robert Ford, British army general, Died at 91

  Military

General Sir Robert Cyril Ford was born on December 29, 1923, and died on November 24, 2015.

He was a British army general who was Adjutant-General to the Forces.

The Bloody Sunday shootings occurred during his tenure as Commander Land Forces, Northern Ireland.

Born in Devon to John and Gladys Ford, General Sir Robert was educated at Musgrave’s College received an emergency commission in the Royal Armoured Corps in 1943.

General Sir Robert served in North West Europe during World War II and was mentioned in despatches.

He was appointed to a permanent commission with the substantive rank of lieutenant on 29 June 1946.

General Sir Robert was appointed a lieutenant in the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards on 1 February 1947 and was deployed to Palestine the same year, where as a temporary captain he was again mentioned in despatches in 1948.

He was promoted to captain on 29 December 1950 and to major on 29 December 1957.

General Sir Robert was brevetted to lieutenant-colonel on 1 July 1962 and promoted to substantive lieutenant-colonel on 4 February 1966.

He became Commanding Officer of 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards the same year.

Skipping one rank, he was promoted to brigadier on 31 December 1967 and appointed Commander of 7th Armoured Brigade in 1968.

General Sir Robert passed away at age 91 in November 2015.