Died 1956 Service/branch British Army Rank Lieutenant-General Role British Army officer | Allegiance United Kingdom Years of service 1902–1941 Name Denis Bernard | |
Commands held 3rd Division
1st Battalion, Royal Ulster Rifles | ||
Lieutenant General Sir Denis John Charles Kirwan Bernard KCB, CMG, DSO (1882–1956) was a British Army officer who commanded 3rd Infantry Division.
Military career
Born the son of Percy Bernard MP, Hayes was commissioned into the Rifle Brigade in 1902. He fought in World War I as a River Transport Officer with the British Expeditionary Force and then served in France, Gallipoli, Salonika and Egypt. He was appointed Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, Royal Ulster Rifles in 1927, Brigadier-General of the General Staff at Northern Command in India in 1930 and Director of Recruiting and Organisation at the War Office in 1934. His last appointment was as General Officer Commanding 3rd Division in 1936 before he retired in 1939.
In retirement he became Governor and Commander-in-Chief Bermuda. While serving as Governor he had to consider proposals for American military bases there: these proposals were bitterly opposed by the local people at the time despite the war-time needs of the American military and he resigned at the request of the British Government in 1941 "to make way for a civilian". Bernard Park in Hamilton, Bermuda is named after him. His family home was Castle Hacket in Galway.