Richard Holmes ( military historian ) Brigadier Edward Richard Holmes , CBE , TD , JP ( 29 March 1946 – 30 April 2011 ) , known as Richard Holmes , was a British soldier and noted military historian , particularly well - known through his many television appearances . He was co - director of Cranfield University ' s Security and Resilience Group from 1989 to 2009 and became the Professor of Military and Security Studies at Cranfield in 1995 . Background and career . Holmes was educated at Forest School , Snaresbrook and Emmanuel College , Cambridge , as well as Northern Illinois University and the University of Reading . In 1964 , he enlisted in the Territorial Army , the part - time volunteer reserve of the British Army . Two years later he gained his commission , eventually rising to the rank of Brigadier . He spent most of his Territorial Army career with the 5th ( Volunteer ) Battalion , The Queen ' s Regiment , a NATO - centred infantry battalion . Between 1969 and 1985 , he was a lecturer at the Department of War Studies at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , becoming Deputy Head of the Department in 1984 . He was promoted acting Captain in 1972 , substantive Captain in 1973 , acting Major in 1978 , awarded the Efficiency Decoration ( TD ) in 1979 , promoted to substantive Major in 1980 . In 1983 he transferred to and took command of the 2nd Battalion , The Wessex Regiment . He was promoted to Lieutenant - Colonel when he chose to give up full - time service in 1986 . In the 1988 Queen ' s Birthday Honours , he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire ( OBE ) ( Military Division ) . He was promoted Colonel on 29 January 1989 . In June 1991 he was appointed Aide - de - Camp to the Queen , holding the post until February 1997 . In January 1994 he was appointed Honorary Colonel of the Southampton University Officer Training Corps , and in that February , he was appointed Brigadier TA at Headquarters Land Command . In 1995 , he became Professor of Military and Security Studies at Cranfield . From 1997 until his retirement in 2000 , Holmes was Director Reserve Forces and Cadets , as well as having the distinguished honour of being Britain ' s senior serving reservist . In the 1998 New Year Honours he was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire ( CBE ) ( Military Division ) . From September 1999 to 1 February 2007 he was Colonel of the Regiment of the Princess of Wales ' s Royal Regiment ( successor to The Queen ' s and Royal Hampshire Regiments ) . On 19 September 2000 he was awarded the Volunteer Reserves Service Medal . Academic . In 1989 , he became Co - Director of Cranfield University ' s Security Studies Institute at the Royal Military College of Science , Shrivenham . He became Professor of Military and Security Studies there in 1995 , retiring from both positions — although retaining some part - time responsibilities , in 2009 . Public service . Holmes was also president of the British Commission for Military History and the Battlefields Trust , patron of the Guild of Battlefield Guides , chairman of Project Hougoumont , member of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Armouries , Patron of " Soldier On ! " and a vice president of the UK National Defence Association . He has received the Order of the Dannebrog and held honorary doctorates from the universities of Leicester and Kent . Holmes lived in Hampshire with his wife and two daughters . In his spare time he sat as a Justice of the Peace for North - East Hampshire . Publications and television work . Holmes wrote over a dozen books , including " Firing Line " and " Redcoat " , and was also editor in chief of the Oxford University Press ' Companion to Military History . His television works included documentary series on the American Revolution such as " Rebels and Redcoats " in 2003 and " Battlefields " , a series concentrating on the bloody battles of World War II . His " War Walks " television series has been regularly repeated on British terrestrial and digital television channels , including BBC Two and UKTV History . One of his most noted documentary series was " Wellington : The Iron Duke " , in which he chronicled the Duke of Wellington ' s life , travelling to India , to Waterloo and numerous other locations . In the BBC poll to find the " 100 Greatest Britons " in 2002 , he presented the programme on Oliver Cromwell . He used a similar format in his series , " In the Footsteps of Churchill " , a documentary on Winston Churchill . In this , he travelled across the world , including South Africa , Sudan , Egypt and various locations in the United Kingdom and Europe . He also wrote a book to accompany the series . Both the book and the television series have received much critical acclaim . With John Keegan Holmes also developed the BBC documentary " Soldiers , A History of Men in Battle " . Death . Holmes had been suffering from a form of non - Hodgkins lymphoma but eventually died of pneumonia . He died on 30 April 2011 , aged 65 .