Robert Ford (British Army officer)

General Sir Robert Cyril Ford GCB CBE (born 29 December 1923) is a former Adjutant-General to the Forces.

Military career
Born in Devon to John and Gladys Ford, Robert Ford was educated at Musgrave's College and was later commissioned into the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards in 1943. He served in North West Europe during World War II and was mentioned in despatches. He was deployed to Palestine in 1947 and was again mentioned in despatches. He became Commanding Officer of 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards in 1966 and went on to become Commander of 7th Armoured Brigade in 1968.

In 1971, as Major-General Robert Ford, he was appointed Commander of Land Forces in Northern Ireland at the height of The Troubles. He was criticised in the Saville Report into the Bloody Sunday massacre in Derry for deploying soldiers to arrest rioters: "In our view his decision to use 1 Para as the arrest force is open to criticism but he did not know his decision would result in soldiers firing unjustifiably."

In the secret memo to his superior, dated 7 January 1972, Ford said he was "coming to the conclusion that the minimum force necessary to achieve a restoration of law and order is to shoot selected ringleaders amongst the DYH (Derry Young Hooligans), after clear warnings have been issued". In the event, seven of the innocent victims of Bloody Sunday were indeed Derry teenagers. At the Bloody Sunday inquiry he claimed not to remember having written the memo.

In 1973 he became Commandant of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and in 1976 he was appointed Military Secretary. He was Adjutant General from 1978 to 1981 when he retired from the British Army.

He was ADC General to the Queen from 1980 to 1981.

He was awarded the CB in 1973, the KCB in 1977 and the GCB in 1981. He was also awarded the MBE in 1958 and the CBE in 1971.

Retirement
In retirement he was Chairman of the Army Benevolent Fund from 1981 to 1987. He was also Governor of the Royal Hospital Chelsea from 1981 to 1987. He served as Vice-Chairman of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (C.W.G.C.) from 1989 to 1993.

Family
In 1949 he married Jean Claudia Pendlebury (died 2002) and together they went on to have one son. He married Caroline Margaret Peerless (née Leather) in 2003.