Bruce Shand was born on January 22, 1917 in London England, to Philip Morton Shand (b. 1888, d. 1960), an architectural writer and critic, and Edith Marguerite Harrington (b. 1893, d. 1981).

Despite winning a Military Cross for valour, Major Bruce Shand was a modest and self-effacing man who chose not to speak about his wartime exploits until his grandchildren were born. It took his ...