Vice-Admiral Arthur Edward Frederick Bedford Papers

.

Administrative / biographical background
Arthur Edward Frederick Bedford was the eldest son of Admiral Sir Frederick George Denham Bedford and his wife Ethel Bedford née Turner. He was born at Greenwich in 1881 and entered the Navy as a cadet in 1895. He was executive officer on the armoured cruiser HMS KENT (1901) at the Battle of the Falklands Islands in December 1914. Between 1918 and 1923 he had a series of seagoing commands, beginning with the scout cruiser HMS FORWARD (1904) in the Aegean Sea. He served on the staff of the Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel; before becoming Captain of the Fleet, Mediterranean Fleet; and then Commodore-in-Command at the Royal Naval Barracks, Devonport. Bedford was in command of the battlecruiser HMS TIGER (1913), during the battlecruiser’s last period of commission, 1929-1931. After promotion to the rank of rear-admiral he served as Chief of Staff, Mediterranean Station; then Flag Officer Commanding, Royal Indian Navy. He was promoted to the rank of vice-admiral in 1936 and placed on the retired list in the following year. Bedford died on the cruiser HMS NEWCASTLE (1936) at Valletta and was buried at sea in 1949. He had been in Malta to visit the grave of his son Lieutenant Frederick Bedford, who was killed on active service with the Fleet Air Arm in 1942.