Desmond John Edward Beale-Brown was born on 4 July 1870, educated at Eton and went on to Cambridge. He joined the 9th Lancers on 30 May 1891 as a 2nd Lieutenant and was promoted to lieutenant on 1 Jan 1893. He was seconded to the Army Service Corps but returned to his regiment to be Adjutant as from 13 Mar 1895 (see Officer Group, Undress 1896). The regiment sailed to South Africa in 1896 and he relinquished his post in 1898 in which year the 9th Lancers left South Africa to go to India. But this was short-lived as they went back for the Boer War.
In August 1899 Beale-Browne was appointed ADC to General Sir Frederick Forestier-Walker. He also served, in the Boer War, as Staff Officer for Intelligence with the Rhodesian Field Force under Sir Frederick Carrington. He was Assistant Military Secretary to General Forestier-Walker and was present at the actions in Rhodesia and at Elands River. On 1 Jan 1901 he was promoted tο captain.
On 25 April 1906 he was promoted to major and when the 9th went to France he was with them when they charged the German cavalry at Moncel. The CO Lt-Col Campbell was given command of the 6th Cavalry Brigade in November 1914 so Major Beale-Browne took command of the regiment. He led them at Zillebeke and in the Neuve Chapelle offensive. In May 1915 the regiment suffered the gas attack and fierce fighting at Bellewaarde which decimated their ranks. In October 1915 Lieutenant-Colonel Beale-Browne left the regiment to take over command of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade, and in June 1916 was awarded the DSO and promoted to brigadier-general. On 25 March 1918 he commanded a mounted force to plug the gap at the Somme. The force consisted of 150 men from each of the three brigades of the 1st Cavalry Division.
After the war he was awarded the Belgian Order of the Crown in 1921 and retired from the army in March 1922. He was appointed Colonel of the 9th Lancers on 13 March 1936, at a time when the regiment was converting from horses to tanks and vehicles. His term of office ended in July 1940. Brigadier-General Desmond Beale-Browne retired to Sussex where he was appointed Deputy Lieutenant and JP. He died in 1953. The portrait shows him in the dress uniform of the 9th Lancers c1936.
