| Cyril Bencraft Joly | |
| Birth Date: | 9 September 1918 |
| Allegiance: |  United Kingdom |
| Commands: | C Squadron 3 Royal Tank Regiment |
| Battles: | Second World War |
Lt Colonel Cyril Bencraft Joly MC (9 September 1918 - 2000) was a British Army officer who served with 7th Armoured Division (Desert Rats) throughout the campaign in North Africa during World War II.
He described his experiences as a squadron commander in the Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) in Take These Men (1955), a (lightly fictionalised) personal narrative of the Western Desert campaign that is regarded as a classic of its kind. During Operation Crusader he served in the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment (3 RTR).[1]
He was born in Mengtes, Yunnan, China and died at Winchester in Hampshire.[2]
Later in life he invented and patented an apparatus for providing a desired atmosphere in a sleeping space. It consisted of a frame for a bed with electrical fans to control the temperature.[3]
In his later days he lived at Tregatillian near St Columb Major in Cornwall[4]
Henry Bencraft Joly (1857-1898; his grandfather) was British Vice-Consul in Macao and translator of Ts'ao Chan's Hung Lou Meng: The Dream of the Red Chamber, a Chinese Novel in Two Books.[5] He had three brothers. His only daughter, Vivien, married Hugh David Beddington, son of Keith Lionel Beddington CBE.[6]