164999 David Vere BENDALL, CMG, MBE, MiD*, Grenadier Guards

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    Personal Number: 16499
    Rank: Captain
    Name: David Vere BENDALL, CMG, MBE, MiD*
    Unit: Grenadier Guards


    London Gazette : 28 February 1941
    https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/35089/supplement/1205/data.pdf
    FOOT GUARDS.
    Gren. G'ds.
    The number of the O.C.T.U. from which Cadet D. V. Bendall was commissioned is 161st, and not 163rd as stated in Gazette (Supplement) dated 14th Jan. 1941.

    London Gazette : 19 July 1945
    https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37184/supplement/3729/data.pdf
    The KING has been graciously pleased to approve that the following be Mentioned in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Italy: —
    Foot Guards.
    Gren. Gds.
    Capt. (temp.) D. V. BENDALL (16499).

    London Gazette : 29 November 1945
    https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37368/supplement/5810/data.pdf
    The KING has been graciously pleased to approve that the following be Mentioned in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Italy: —
    Maj. (temp.) D. V. BENDALL (164999)

    London Gazette : 13 December 1945
    https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37386/supplement/6060/data.pdf
    The KING has been graciously pleased to give orders for the {following .promotions in, and appointments to, the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Italy: —
    To be Additional Members of the Military Division of the said Most Excellent Order:—
    Major (temporary) David Vere BENDALL (164999), Grenadier Guards (London, S.W.i).

    London Gazette : 6 November 1964
    https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/43482/page/9392/data.pdf
    The QUEEN has been graciously pleased to appoint the undermentioned to be Officers of the Sixth Grade of Branch A of Her Majesty's Foreign Service, with effect from the dates respectively indicated:
    David Vere Bendall, Esquire, M.B.E. (2nd May 1962);

    London Gazette : 10 June 1967
    https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/44326/supplement/6272/data.pdf
    THE QUEEN has been graciously pleased, on the occasion of the Celebration of Her, Majesty's Birthday, to give directions for the following promotions in, and appointments to the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George:
    DIPLOMATIC SERVICE AND OVERSEAS LIST
    C.M.G.
    To be Members of the Third Class, or Companions, of the said Most Distinguished Order:
    David Vere BENDALL, Esq., M.B.E., Counsellor, Her Majesty's Embassy, Washington

    London Gazette : 23 July 1985
    https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/50206/page/10118/data.pdf
    THE MOST VENERABLE ORDER OF THE HOSPITAL OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM
    The QUEEN has been graciously pleased to sanction the following Promotions in and appointments to the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem
    As Commander (Brother)
    David Vere Bendall, CMG, MBE
     
    Last edited: Sep 27, 2020
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    The National Archives | DocumentsOnline | Image Details
    Name Bendall, David Vere
    Rank: Captain; Temporary Major
    Service No: 164999
    Regiment: Headquarters 5 Corps Grenadier Guards
    Theatre of Combat or Operation: Italy
    Award: Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
    Date of Announcement in London Gazette: 13 December 1945
     
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    See also
    Major D V Bendall CMG MBE, Late Grenadier Guards by his Grandson, Tristan Elbrick

    David Bendall, who has died aged 97, was born in Las Palmas, Canary Islands in 1920, He was sent to prep school at West Downs, on to Winchester and then up to Cambridge. There he was awarded a Modern Languages Scholarship at King’s, and met his future wife, Merrilees Galpin (herself born in Colombo, Ceylon and brought up in Norfolk).

    He joined the Regiment in September 1940 and was posted to the 3rd Battalion in December of that year. On 15th March 1941, he was married at St. James’s Spanish Place, Marylebone. He became an Intelligence Officer in July 1942 at HQ 1st Army and then GSO 3. In December of 1944 he was appointed senior GSO 2 (Ops) at HQ 5 Corps where he was responsible for planning and overseeing the final campaign in Italy. For his work he was awarded the MBE. He was twice Mentioned in Despatches (July and November 1945). Further staff jobs followed at GHQ CMF until he was released in July 1946.

    As a talented linguist, a career in the Diplomatic Service followed after the war. He was appointed Third Secretary by the Foreign Office, taking up his post at Allied Forces Headquarters, Caserta, and moving in 1947 to the British Embassy in Rome.

    In 1949 he returned to the Foreign Office in London, and was subsequently appointed First Secretary at Santiago, Chile in 1952. Two postings to the NATO International Secretariat at Paris followed in 1957 and in 1962 with the rank of Counsellor, latterly as Deputy Head of the Economic and Finance Division, and Special Advisor on Defence Policy. He was appointed in 1965 to the Embassy at Washington DC (CMG 1967) as Counsellor, before becoming Assistant Secretary of State for Western Europe (1969-1971). Having been sounded out as the next Ambassador to Moscow and tipped as a future Head of the Foreign Office, he elected instead to surrender his diplomatic career owing to the precarious health of his wife, Merrilees.

    Joining Morgan Grenfell, he was at the forefront of the merchant bank’s international efforts from 23 Great Winchester Street, focusing on opportunities in Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. He travelled extensively, bringing home tales of trains in Brazil, the Royal Yacht Britannia, and flying Concorde. He would go on to chair the bank’s overseas operations in France, Switzerland and Italy, bringing his strong understanding of the European mind to the successful conclusion of commercial business.

    In 1971 he and his wife purchased Ashbocking Hall in Suffolk, which they took great pleasure in restoring over nearly half a century. But a sustained love of Italy also led to an appointment as director of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, and for over 30 years the Tuscan sea-side enticed him for family holidays at Castliglione della Pescaia.

    From 1980 to 1985 he was Chairman of the Red Cross in Britain, while for many years he was also a Director of IISS, the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

    In Suffolk life he was a stalwart patron of All Saints, Ashbocking, quietly supporting the church’s maintenance and other aspects of parish life. He played tennis competitively well into his 80s, and golf at Woodbridge and Aldeburgh. Rarely missing a Branch gathering of the Grenadier Guards Association, he also enjoyed music at Snape or close to his London mews house at Cadogan Hall. Opportunities to meet with friends in town usually centred around Boodle’s, which he greatly enjoyed from 1954. He was a keen shot and loved fine wines. An engaging conversationalist until his final months, he illuminated many others’ imaginations with breadth of experience, depth of knowledge, and a sharp sense of humour. (Those who enquired would also discover he was exceptionally well-read in several languages and had a continuing mastery of both national and international developments).

    His wife predeceased him in 2014, and he is survived by their only child, Fern, who married Captain Alfred Johnson Elbrick, USMC, in Washington DC (1967). He was always closely involved in the lives of his grandchildren Tristan, Sophie, Alexia and Xanthe, for whom he was a source of both warmth and wisdom. A committed internationalist, he succeeded in travelling until his final year, to the Amalfi Coast with his grandson and granddaughter-in-law, and to America to visit his granddaughters and six great-grandchildren.

    Through his long and full days, David Bendall lived consistently in the spirit of his own motto: ‘Bien ou Rien’: ‘Done Well or Not at All’.
     
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