BEECH, John Robert

Personal Details

Military Service

Casualty Details

Cemetery

Honours and Memorials

Biography

Lieutenant Colonel John Robert Dixon Beech CMG DSO MRCVS was the second son of James Dixon Beech and his wife, Mrs. Susan Beech of Ballintemple, County Cork.

He qualified from the Royal (Dick) Veterinary College in April 1881, at the age of 18 and being eager to see action, he joined the army as a Veterinary Surgeon in July 1881. He was attached to the Egyptian Army during the Egyptian campaign of 1882-1884, and he also served in the Sudan campaign of 1884. He then participated in the Gordon Relief Expedition to Khartoum of 1884-1885.

In 1887, he accompanied Sir Gerald Portal’s Royal mission to King Johnannis of Abyssinia, where he experienced much danger and hardship in carrying the Queen’s letter through a difficult and hostile country. He was made a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George for services on this expedition.

In September 1888, he was granted a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the 21st Hussars in recognition of his meritorious service. He continued to serve attached to the Egyptian Army and served again in the Sudan from 1888-1891. In December 1889, in recognition of his services, he was promoted to Captain in the 20th Hussars with immediate effect. In May 1891, he was recommended for the Victoria Cross for service during the battle of Toski, where he had saved the life of one of his men. However, this was later reduced to the award of the Distinguished Service Order because only Egyptian troops had been engaged during the action for which he had been recommended.

In July 1893, he left the service of the Egyptian Army and returned to Britain. During his time in Egypt and Sudan, in addition to the CMG and DSO, he was awarded the Egyptian Medal with 7 clasps, the only 7-clasp Egyptian medal ever issued, the Khedival Orders of the Medjidieh and of the Osmanieh. He had risen to the rank of Kaikamah (Lieutenant Colonel) in the Egyptian Army.

On his return to Britain, he rejoined his regiment, but in October 1894, he retired from the Army and entered the Reserve of Officers. In December 1894, he married Alexandria Marion Mackenzie, the widow of John Bullough of Meggernie Castle, Glenlyon, Perthshire.

On the outbreak of the South African War in 1899, he re-joined the army and served on General Sir John French’s Staff, first as Transport Officer and later as Assistant Provost Marshal. In August 1903, he was promoted to Major and from 1904 to 1913, he commanded the 2nd Regiment of the Scottish Horse, Imperial Yeomanry.

In July 1907, he was made a Deputy Assistant Director of Remounts and, in February 1909, was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. He again retired from the army in 1913, but on the outbreak of the Great War, he again volunteered for service and, in August 1914, was given command of the 2/1st Regiment of the Scottish Horse.

He died, aged 55, at Louth in Lincolnshire on 6th November 1915 from pneumonia following a chill caught in camp and is buried in Innerwick-in-Glenlyon Parish Churchyard, Perthshire. He is buried under a private headstone.

Lieutenant Colonel Beech’s obituary appeared in The Veterinary Record on November 20, 1915.

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