Lieutenant-Colonel A.E.C. Bredin
2nd Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment

… it is high time these things were said—and said by some non-military expert—to give the lie to dishonest, biased and selfish opinions, widely held. We are still a great nation, with great responsibilities as well as great opportunities. We are also an affluent nation; and even sever per cent of the so-called gross national income spent on defence is hardly worthy of us. The world is in probably its worst-ever state. And yet, because of the strident clamour of the baser and greedier elements of the nation, we lose our sense of proportion; of purpose and our faith in ourselves, let alone in the Almighty

(Bredin, Daily Telegraph, 12 Dec 1966, 15)

Born on 6 January 1911 in Rangoon, Alexander Edward Craven Bredin, was commissioned into the Dorsetshire Regiment after attending Royal Military College, Sandhurst, where he gained the nickname “Speedy,” for arriving on parade just in time. He served in Palestine and India on the North West Frontier. The 1st Battalion, Dorsets, returned to England after the outbreak of war in 1939, and Bredin was subsequently posted to Gibraltar and then Malta.

After the invasion of Sicily, he was attached to the 1st Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment as second-in-command in Italy. He rejoined the 1st Dorsets before the Normandy invasion. After the commanding officer died of wounds in late June, and a replacement needed to be hospitalized in early July, Bredin took command of the battalion. He earned the Military Cross followed by the D.S.O.

In December, the battalion along with the 50th Division was withdrawn to England. By February 1945, Bredin was back in the field, having been appointed CO of the 5th Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment in the 43rd Division. He led the unit final drive into Germany until the end of the war in Europe. He held several postwar staff appointments before becoming CO of the 1/6th Gurkha Rifles. He command the battalion against insurgents in the Malayan Emergency from 1954 to 1956.

He retired at the rank of brigadier and served as colonel of the Dorset Regiment from 1967 to 1977. He was the author of a several books including, Three Assault Landings (the 1st Dorsets in Sicily, Italy and Normandy), The Happy Warriors: The Gurkhas, and The History of the Irish Soldiers Throughout the Ages. He was also a regular contributor to the Daily Telegram. In letters to the editor since the 1960s, he championed the value of infantry and decried defence spending cuts. He pointedly complained in one letter about “other luxurious trappings which go towards making us an effete as well as an affluent nation.”

He died on 7 November 1993.