Fourth in a
line of British army officers, and born the son of
Richard Luard and educated at
Clifton College, Luard graduated from the
Royal Military College of Canada and was
commissioned as a
lieutenant in the
Durham Light Infantry of the
British Army on 2 September 1885. He served as an Assistant Superintendent of Army Signalling in the
Zhob Field Force in 1890, and was promoted
captain on 13 February 1895. In late December 1901 he was placed in command of the Burma Mounted Infantry serving in the
Second Boer War in
South Africa, with the local rank of
major whilst in command. He was
mentioned in despatches (dated 8 April 1902) and received a
brevet promotion as major in the South African Honours list published on 26 June 1902. Following the end of the war, he left South Africa on the , which arrived at
Southampton in October 1902. He later served in
World War I, being promoted in February 1916 to colonel, commanding a brigade in
India followed by 9th Infantry Brigade and was then deployed as part of the
Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force and then the
Egyptian Expeditionary Force. ==Cricket==