Bean went to school at Sherborne.[2] A career soldier, he was commissioned in 1926 into the Somerset Light Infantry; he was promoted from second lieutenant to full lieutenant in 1929.[3] In 1933, he was seconded to the Colonial Service and joined the Royal West African Frontier Force and in 1935 was promoted to be an acting captain.[4][5] Three years later, in 1938, he was gazetted as a captain and had been promoted to acting major, still within the RWAFF, but at this time his notional "home regiment" was the Glosters.[6] He was promoted to full major within the Glosters in 1943.[7] He retired from the army "on account of disability" and with the honorary rank of colonel in 1948.[8] By the time of his discharge from the British Army he had been awarded the MBE; this was upgraded to an OBE in 1961 when he was cited in the London Gazette as "General Manager of the Ghana Chamber of Mines".[9]
Cricket career
Bean's cricket was limited to a few matches in each about half a dozen seasons for Dorset, and one period of three matches for Somerset in 1929. A right-handed batsman who opened the innings or batted high in the order for Dorset, he was played in the lower middle-order for Somerset. He also bowled leg breaks and googlies. He was not successful in his three first-class matches for Somerset, with a highest score of just 17 in his six innings and a single wicket.
References
^"Leslie Bean". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
^"Obituary". The Cricket Statistician (62): 48. 1988. Retrieved 27 March 2017.