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James Bowes-Lyon
Major General Sir Francis James Cecil Bowes-Lyon, KCVO, CB, OBE, MC & Bar (19 September 1917 – 18 December 1977) was a senior British Army officer who served as commandant of the British Sector in Berlin from 1968 to 1970.[1] Early life and educationBowes-Lyon was born in Chelsea, London, the son of Captain Geoffrey Francis Bowes-Lyon, grandson of Claude Bowes-Lyon, 13th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and Frances Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne. He was thus a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. His mother was Edith Katherine Selby-Bigge, daughter of Sir Amherst Selby-Bigge, 1st Baronet.[2] He was educated at Eton College and Sandhurst.[1] Military careerBowes-Lyon was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards in 1938,[3] and served in the Guards Armoured Division during the Second World War.[3] In 1955 he became commandant at the Guards Depot and in 1957 he was made commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards.[3] He was appointed Military Assistant to Field Marshal Sir Francis Festing, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, in 1960 and commander of the 157th Lowland Brigade in 1963.[3] Bowes-Lyon went on to be General Officer Commanding 52nd Lowland Division District in 1966 and commandant of the British Sector in Berlin in 1968.[3] In 1971 he was appointed Major-General commanding the Household Division and General Officer Commanding London District.[3] He retired in 1973.[3] Personal lifeBowes-Lyon married Mary de Trafford, daughter of Sir Humphrey de Trafford, 4th Baronet. The couple had three children, two sons, John[4] and David, and a daughter, Fiona. The family lived at Sennicotts in West Sussex.[5] He was a Gentleman Usher to the Royal Household.[6] References
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