Knighted! Brigadier General Sir Rudyard Lewis
BDF Media Release| 23 December 20
Photography and Story credit: Pte Straker K, BDF Media
Headquarters Barbados Defence Force congratulates Brigadier Sir Rudyard Lewis on the official receipt of his knighthood by Her Excellency, Dame Sandra Mason Governor-General of Barbados. Sir Rudyard Lewis received the Knight of St Andrew for extraordinary achievements and meritorious service to the military in Barbados.
Brigadier General Sir Rudyard Lewis was a former Chief of Staff of the BDF , where he successfully executed the restoration of security during the 1980s, including the Grenada Intervention. In 1982, he pioneered the development of the Regional Security System.
Brigadier General Sir Rudyard Lewis capably assumed the responsibility of equipping and training the Force as an elite professional military entity to treat to the security challenges of that era. Recognising that like Barbados, several other Eastern Caribbean island nations did not have all the resources needed for their territorial defence, Brigadier Sir Rudyard Lewis was given the task of organising a cooperative regional security organisation that would provide for the mutual cooperation to maximize their strength in the interest of collective defence and stability to achieve social and economic development of their people.
Brigadier Sir Rudyard Lewis led in the process that created an unrivaled small-island defence and security organisation that continues to meet several of the operational and training needs of its Member States.
In attendance at the ceremony were Lady Lewis and Colonel Glyne Grannum, Chief of Staff Barbados Defence Force.
Congratulations Sir – Sir!
Commodore (Cdre) Errington Ricardo Shurland was appointed Chief of Staff of the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) on 1 September 2021. He enlisted in the BDF in February 1984 and in a military career spanning over 34 years, has served in various operational and administrative appointments.
Colonel Glyne Grannum joined the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) on 18 October 1985 and underwent career development training at the Canadian Forces Officer Candidate School, Chilliwack and the Combat Training Centre, Gagetown New Brunswick, Canada. He subsequently attended the Infantry Training Centre and the Signal Wing in Warminster, UK (PCBC and RSO Courses respectively), the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in San Remo, Italy; the Lester Pearson Canadian Peacekeeping Centre, the Canadian Land Forces Command and Staff College, Kingston, the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College, Toronto, the National Defence University of the People’s Liberation Army People’s Republic of China and the Centre for Hemispheric Defence Studies, National Defence University, Washington. He also attended a Defence Resources Management programme at National Defence Headquarters, Ottawa, Canada. In addition to being a qualified infantry officer, Col Grannum is a qualified Regimental Signals Officer and a former Operations Officer and Finance Officer of the BDF.
Colonel Banfield joined the Barbados Battalion of the South Caribbean Force in 1941 having just left the Cadet Corps at Combermere School, and was granted a commission as a Second Lieutenant in 1942. He was a Platoon Commander and a Company Commander during the war and served in Barbados, Dominica (as part of the Gale Force), St Lucia and St Vincent.
Warrant Officer Class 1 Colin Marshall is a graduate of the St Michael, and was born on the 5 November 1969 and enlisted in the Barbados Defence Force on 16 August 1994. He was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal in August 1997, Corporal in 1999, Sergeant in 2007, Color Sergeant in 2014, Warrant Officer Class Two in 2017 and Warrant Officer Class One in 2020. He was Most Outstanding Student on Junior Leadership Course in 1998, the Most Outstanding Student on Junior Non Commissioned Officer Cadre in Jamaica in 2000, best at Leadership on the Search Adviser Course in Jamaica in 2007 and the Most Outstanding Student on the Warrant Officer Course in Jamaica in 2015.
