The son of a
British Army officer, Major-General
Claude Liardet, "Bill" Liardet was born in
Birkenhead,
England on 27 October 1906. Like his father, Liardet was initially educated at
Bedford School, Liardet was
commissioned into the
Royal Artillery,
Royal Tank Corps in 1927, serving in India and Egypt between 1927 and 1938. In 1939, the year the
Second World War began, Liardet was in England attending the
Staff College, Camberley, which graduated early due to the war's beginning in September. During the war he served at the
War Office between 1939 and 1941 and commanded the
6th Royal Tank Regiment from 1942 until 1944. In 1945 he was appointed commander of the
25th Armoured Engineer Brigade Royal Engineers. Between 1949 and 1950 he served as commander of the
8th Royal Tank Regiment and, between 1953 and 1956, as commander of the
23rd Armoured Brigade, during which he attended the
Imperial Defence College in 1955. From 1956 until 1958 he served as chief of staff to the British Joint Services Mission in
Washington, D.C. ==Later years and death==