Mervyn McCord

Brigadier Mervyn Noel Samuel McCord, CBE, MC, ADC (25 December 19298 February 2013) was a decorated Irish officer of the British Army who served with distinction during the Korean War and rose to be Commanding Officer of the Ulster Defence Regiment.

Early life McCord was born on 25 December 1929 in Armagh, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. He was the elder son of Major George McCord who had served with the Royal Ulster Rifles. He was educated at the Coleraine Academical Institution.

His first tour was in 1950/51 to Korea during the Korean War with the 1st Battalion, Royal Ulster Rifles. He was awarded the Military Cross for actions that occurred on the night of 1 to 2 January 1951. General Ridgway decided to withdraw behind the Han River to the south of their position following intense pressure from Chinese force. It was McCord's platoon that brought up the rear of the retreat. and to captain on 16 December 1955. Following Korean were postings to Hong Kong and to the British Army of the Rhine. In 1963, he was attached to the Canadian Army as an exchange officer. He was based at HQ Eastern Command in Halifax, Nova Scotia. and posted to Northern Ireland. He served there as chief operations officer at HQ Northern Ireland in Lisburn. He was awarded a number of service medals during his career; the Korea Medal, the United Nations Korea Medal, the General Service Medal and the United Nations Service Medal for UNFICYP. He was also awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal. He was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) on 6 June 1978 'in recognition of distinguished service in Northern Ireland during the period 1 November 1977 – 31 January 1978'.

He was appointed Aide-de-Camp to the Queen (ADC) on 31 July 1981. He was Deputy Colonel of the Royal Irish Rangers between 1 September 1976 and 1 September 1981. He was appointed Honorary Colonel of the same regiment on 27 August 1985. He served in that role until 27 August 1990 when he was succeeded by the then Major General Roger Wheeler.