FIELD Marshal Lord Bramall, one of Britain’s most decorated military heroes, has received an honorary degree of Doctors of Law from Buckingham University in recognition of his lifetime of service to his country.

The degree was conferred on the 92-year-old former head of the Army at his home in Crondall by university vice-chancellor Sir Anthony Seldon, at a special presentation attended by a small gathering of family and friends, including his daughter Sara, and grandson Alexander.

Lord Bramall’s distinguished service record was cited over more than seven decades, as a soldier on the Normandy beaches, to the battlefields of north-west Europe near the end of the Second World War, where his heroism gained him the Military Cross at the age of 21.

He served in post-war Japan and as a member of staff to Earl Mountbatten of Burma, in Libya and in the Canal Zone, and worked on the planning staff for Suez.

A talented artist, he is unique in the annals of British generalship for having two paintings selected for exhibition at the Royal Academy, while still at school.

Lord Bramall played a key role in the War Cabinet as head of the Army during the Falklands War. He was cited for “his personal courage, inspired leadership and cool head which were decisive in securing victory in the Falklands War — a service to a grateful nation that was acknowledged that same year by the award of a Field Marshal’s baton and appointment as Chief of the Defence Staff”. He was invested as a Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter by the Queen in 1990.