{{Short description|British Army general}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}} {{Infobox military person | honorific_prefix = Major-General | name = Edwin Beckett | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CB|MBE}} | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | nickname = | birth_date = {{birth date|1937|05|16|df=y}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{death date and age|2018|11|15|1937|05|16|df=y}} | death_place = | burial_place = | allegiance = United Kingdom | branch = British Army | service_years = 1957–1991 | rank = Major-General | service_number = | unit = West Yorkshire Regiment | commands = 1st Infantry Brigade (1982–84)<br/>1st Battalion Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire (1976–79) | battles = Aden Emergency | awards = Companion of the Order of the Bath<br/>Member of the Order of the British Empire | relations = | other_work = }} Major-General '''Edwin Horace Alexander Beckett''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100|sep=,|CB|MBE}} (16 May 1937 – 15 November 2018) was a British Army officer who became Head of the British Defence Staff in Washington, D.C.
==Military career== Educated at the Henry Fanshawe School and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Beckett was commissioned into the West Yorkshire Regiment in 1957.<ref name=WW>''Who's Who 2010'', A & C Black, 2010, {{ISBN|978-1-4081-1414-8}}</ref> As a junior officer he saw active service during the Aden Emergency.<ref name=WW/> He became commanding officer of 1st Battalion Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire in 1976, a member of the directing staff at the Staff College, Camberley, in 1979 and commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade in 1982.<ref name=WW/> He went on to be chief of staff at Headquarters British Army of the Rhine in 1985 and Head of the British Defence Staff and Defence Attaché in Washington, D.C. in 1988 before retiring in 1991.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/Ministry%20of%20Defence%20Senior%20Posts.pdf |title=Ministry of Defence and Senior Tri-Service Appointments |accessdate=7 June 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117033054/http://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/Ministry%20of%20Defence%20Senior%20Posts.pdf |archivedate=17 November 2015 }}</ref>
After retiring from the army, Beckett was Chairman of the British Brands Group.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britishbrandsgroup.org.uk/upload/File/timelineslides_v7.pdf|title=Speaking out for 20 years|publisher=British Brands Group|accessdate=7 June 2015}}</ref> He died on 15 November 2018, at the age of 81.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/228879/beckett |title=Beckett|date=22 November 2018|work=The Telegraph|location=London|accessdate=22 November 2018}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{s-bef|before=Ronald Dick}} {{s-ttl|title=Head of the British Defence Staff in Washington, D.C.|years=1988–1991}} {{s-aft|after=Peter Dodworth}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beckett, Edwin}} Category:1937 births Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath Category:2018 deaths Category:British Army major generals Category:West Yorkshire Regiment officers Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:Place of birth missing Category:Military attachés for the United Kingdom Category:Academics of the Staff College, Camberley