Scotland Yard detectives swooped on the family home of Field Marshall Lord Bramall of Bushfield , the former chief of the defence staff and a D-Day veteran . At 91 , Lord Bramall – the latest VIP to be dragged into the sex abuse inquiry – is the oldest and most respected of Britain 's eight living Field Marshals . He stepped down as Chief of Defence Staff in 1985 after four decades spent climbing the ranks from 2nd Lieutenant right to the pinnacle of Britain 's armed forces . Lord Bramall first saw action on the Normandy beaches the day after D-Day , when he was shelled . Everyone else in his vehicle died but he managed to crawl out . At first he thought he was on fire , but in fact he was badly wounded and was sent back to Britain for treatment . Lord Bramall returned to his unit just five weeks later and was leading a patrol on the Dutch-Belgian border when he was ambushed . Rather than flee , he led a counter-attack , and managed to wound two Germans and take another one captive . He was later awarded the Military Cross for his actions by Field Marshal Montgomery himself . He led the Royal Green Jackets in Borneo in 1965 , commanded British forces in Hong Kong in the 1970s and was made head of the Army in 1979 . Lord Bramall held that role during the Falklands War of 1982 , and was a strong admirer of Margaret Thatcher . ' A wonderful war leader , ' he said , 'probably even better than Churchill ' . Born in 1923 , Lord Bramall 's father came from a merchant family in the Potteries in Staffordshire , while his mother hailed from impoverished aristocracy . She would forever call him 'my baby ' – even when phoning his office while he was head of the Army . He captained Eton 's cricket team , had two pictures displayed at the Royal Academy , and to his mother 's chagrin , turned down a place at Oxford to join the Army . He married his wife Avril in 1949 and they have two children . The couple are still together . After he retired , festooned with decorations , he became a life peer – and has never been afraid to speak his mind in the Lords – opposing the second war in Iraq and what he termed 'mission creep ' in Afghanistan . More recently , Lord Bramall has also been a vocal critic of defence cuts , which he fears could weaken the Army . He told peers that when it comes to dealing with threats you 'have to prepare for the unexpected ' . Eton-educated Lord Bramall commanded a platoon at the D-Day landings and led the Army as chief of the general staff during the Falklands campaign.He was awarded the Military Cross in 1945 . The headline to an earlier version of this article wrongly stated that Lord Bramall had been arrested . While the article made clear that this had not been the case , we are happy to set the record straight and apologise for any confusion caused .
Police searched home of Lord Bramall , a decorated former soldier . The Field Marshall was former chief of the defence staff and D-Day veteran . Part of operation which also targeted properties belonging to Lord Brittan .