Beaumont-Nesbitt was appointed the Deputy Director of Military Intelligence at the War Office, and granted the temporary rank of brigadier. On the day following the declaration of war, 4 September 1939, he was made an acting major-general, and took over as Director of Military Intelligence after the former incumbent Henry Pownall was appointed Chief of Staff of the British Expeditionary Force. On 4 September 1940 he received the temporary rank of major-general. Beaumont-Nesbitt relinquished the position of DMI on 16 December 1940. On 15 January 1941 Beaumont-Nesbitt was re-granted the temporary rank of major general, to serve as a military attaché, and from 15 June 1941 as a member of the British Army Staff, in Washington DC. Between 1943 and 1945 he was on active service in the Middle East, North Africa and Italy, receiving a mention in despatches on 6 April 1944 for "gallant and distinguished services in the Middle East" and also being made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In 1944 he was appointed an aide-de-camp to King George VI serving until September 1945. He ended the war as a liaison officer on the staff of Field Marshal Harold Alexander, Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean. Beaumont-Nesbitt left the Army in late 1945, but remained in the Reserve of Officers until reaching the mandatory retirement age of 60 on 24 March 1953. He was appointed a Gentleman Usher to the Queen in November 1959, and serving until April 1967. Major-General Beaumont-Nesbitt died on 14 December 1971. Personal life In 1915 he married Cecilia Mary Lavinia Bingham (1893–1920), the daughter of Major-General the Honourable Sir Cecil Edward Bingham. They had two children; David Frederick John Beaumont-Nesbitt, (1916–1972) and Audrey Helen Anne Beaumont-Nesbitt, (1919–2009). In 1928 he married the Honourable Ruby Hardinge (1897–1977), the daughter of Henry Charles Hardinge, 3rd Viscount Hardinge, and they had three further children; June Rose Beaumont-Nesbitt (1929–), Dermot Beaumont-Nesbitt, (1931–2016), and Brian Beaumont-Nesbitt, (1932–). References Bibliography External links Generals of World War II 1893 births 1971 deaths Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies People educated at Eton College Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Grenadier Guards officers British Army personnel of World War I British Army generals of World War II Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Military Cross War Office personnel in World War II British Army major