Lieutenant-Colonel Aubrey Coad
5th Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment

He looked at me and welcomed me to t27th Brigade, then he said, “don’t want any heroes in my brigade—heroes get killed!”

(Rev. William Jones quoted in Andrew Salmon, Scorched Earth, Black Snow: the First Year of the Korean War, 43)

Born on 27 September 1906 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, Basil Aubrey Coad took a commissioned with the Wiltshire Regiment after graduating from RMC, Sandhurst in 1926. Following postings to India and Shanghai, he served during the Arab Revolt in Palestine in 1936. Having transferred to the Terriorial Army, he mobilized for active service and was appointed second-in-command for the 2nd Battalion, Wiltshires in 1941.

Following a period of instructional duties, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in command of the 5th Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment in July 1942. Nearly two years later, he led the battalion to Normandy as part of the 130th Infantry Brigade, 43rd Division. He earned the D.S.O. and a promotion to brigadier of the 130th Brigade in October 1944. By the end of the war, he would received the D.S.O. Bar. Major-General Ivor Thomas wrote in the citation:

This officer by fearless and indefatigable leadership, has raised the standard of his Bde to a very high level, and has led it through a series of uniformly successful actions, particularly since 1 Feb 45. for this I regard the credit as due personally to Brig Coad, who has shown himself to be a fine and determined leaders and whose presence in the forward area has so often been an inspiration to all ranks under his comd.

Following a series of postwar commands, Coad was appointed to the 27th Infantry Brigade in Hong Kong as apart of Far East Land Forces. During the Korean War, the formation became the British Commonwealth Brigade as part of the United Nations force. Coad commanded from September 1950 until March 1951, earning the Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire and the US Legion of Merit.

The exhaustion of the campaign proved a heavy strain, and Coad had suffered a breakdown in December 1950. After a short recovery in Japan, he returned to duty. Deeply concerned for the welfare of his troops, he was much beloved in return, particularly by the Australians who affectionately nicknamed Coad “the grey-haired old bastard.”

After returning from Korea, he commanded 2nd Infantry Division in West Germany until 1954. He retired from the regular army in 1957, but was colonel of the Wiltshire Regiment until 1959 and then colonel of the newly amalgamated Duke of Edinburgh’s Royal Regiment until 1964.

Coad died in Wiltshire on 26 March 1980.