William Swan (British Army officer)
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir William Bertram Swan KCVO CBE TD DL JP (19 September 1914 – 4 December 1990) was a British Army officer and agriculturalist.
Early life
[edit]Swan was eldest son of Nichol Allan Swan and Anne Gardener Keir. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy and entered farming in 1933.[1]
Military career
[edit]On 13 May 1939 he was commissioned into the King's Own Scottish Borderers of the Territorial Army.[2] He served with the 4th Battalion of the regiment in the Battle of France. Between 1942 and 1945 Swan was seconded to the British Indian Army and served with the No. 1 Mule Training Regiment in Jullundu. Following the end of the Second World War, Swan returned to farming in Scotland.[3]
He served as Army Cadet Force County Commandant for Roxburgh, Berwick and Selkirk from 1955 to 1973 and was granted the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was a colonel in the Lowlands Territorial Army from 1983 to 1986.[4]
Agriculture
[edit]Swan was President of the National Farmers Union of Scotland from 1961 to 1962 and was President of the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society from 1966 to 1968. He was a member of the Development Commission from 1964 to 1976.[5]
Honours and awards
[edit]Swan was invested as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in June 1968, having served as a Deputy Lieutenant in 1965. From 1969 to 1989 he was Lord Lieutenant of Berwickshire and was invested as a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in June 1988.[6][7] He was awarded the Efficiency Decoration for long service in the Territorial Army.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ 'Swan, Wiliam Bertram' in British Army Officers 1939–1945 at unithistories.com, accessed 2 July 2015
- ^ "No. 34637". The London Gazette. 20 June 1939. p. 4158.
- ^ 'Swan, Wiliam Bertram' in British Army Officers 1939–1945 at unithistories.com, accessed 2 July 2015
- ^ 'Swan, Wiliam Bertram' in British Army Officers 1939–1945 at unithistories.com, accessed 2 July 2015
- ^ 'Swan, Wiliam Bertram' in British Army Officers 1939–1945 at unithistories.com, accessed 2 July 2015
- ^ "No. 51365". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 March 1975. p. 4.
- ^ "No. 19635". The Edinburgh Gazette. 10 June 1988. p. 396.
- ^ 'Swan, Wiliam Bertram' in British Army Officers 1939–1945 at unithistories.com, accessed 2 July 2015
- 1914 births
- 1990 deaths
- Scottish agriculturalists
- British Army personnel of World War II
- 20th-century British farmers
- Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
- Deputy lieutenants of Berwickshire
- King's Own Scottish Borderers officers
- Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
- Lord-lieutenants of Berwickshire
- People educated at Edinburgh Academy