Individual Naval Officers and Ratings

[Pelican]

‘Great Escaper’ and naval pilot dies aged 102

One of the last living links with the legendary Great Escape has been cut with the death of naval aviator Captain Vyvyan Howard aged 102.
In the spring of 1944 the then sub lieutenant used his knowledge of German to distract and disorientate the guards as Stalag Luft III camp for captured airmen – allowing many of his fellow inmates to break out.

He didn’t escape – and thus was spared the bitter fate of many PoWs who did… and were subsequently murdered by the German authorities.

Even among those of the greatest generation, Vyvyan Howard’s career and life are remarkable.

After working as a research assistant in the chemical industry, he volunteered to join the Royal Navy as a pilot aged 19 when war broke out in 1939.

Two years later, a then Sub Lieutenant Howard was taken prisoner following a carrier raid on the Arctic strongpoint of Kirkenes at the end of July 1941 when aircraft from HMS Furious and Victorious struck at the Norwegian port.

Occupied by the Germans in 1940, Kirkenes was a key base sustaining their advance on the Russian naval base at Murmansk the following summer.

Vyvyan Howard’s Albacore released its torpedo… only to be shot up by flak and disintegrating on the run home. The pilot was plucked out of a fjord by the Germans and spent the rest of the war in captivity.

Continues, including 3 photos, at - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... s-aged-102

[Pelican]

A. of the F. Lord Boyce

[Also see the Submarine thread.]

[Pelican]

Rear Admiral Ray Rawbone CB AFC, was born on April 19, 1923. He died on March 12, 2023, aged 99

https://archive.is/Ff0y6

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Navy Lookout

Obituary:
Captain Steve Taylor - a talented sailor, twice court martialled for damage to his ship but forgiven.

Fleet Gunnery & Missile Officer on staff at Northwood during Falklands War and CO of HMS Southampton when struck by tanker in the Gulf in 1988
See - https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/ca ... 0c7d9&ei=8

[Pelican]

Capt John Kelly, skilled 2 i/c of HMS Fearless during the Falklands War who also flew helicopter sorties – obituary

Kelly deftly handled Fearless’s complex internal routines; earlier in his career he had flown helicopters with ‘the Junglies’ in Malaysia
See - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/ ... lands-war/

[Pelican]

Sir Michael Caine plays veteran who escaped care home to join D-Day event in France

https://www.itv.com/news/2023-07-24/mic ... 1690222501

https://www.military.com/history/world- ... d-day.html

[Pelican]

A former sailor, believed to be the last Royal Navy veteran from Dunkirk, has died at the age of 102.

Lawrence Churcher, who was awarded the Legion d'Honneur, was posted to HMS Eagle at the start of the Second World War, landing in France in May 1940.

See - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-h ... jqlloRhKcA

[Pelican]

Farewell to a former ‘face of the Royal Navy’

You may not know his name, but Tony Davidson inspired thousands of men and boys to join the Royal Navy.
Or visit Navy Days. Or even learn about fitness and morale in the Senior Service.

For most of the 1950s the then junior seaman, who has died aged 90, was the public face of the RN.

Of hundreds of teenagers going through HMS St Vincent in Gosport in 1950, Tony was selected to be painted by A R Thompson of the Royal Academy – a prolific and versatile artist who produced work for the war effort, railway companies, Hollywood (such as Alec Guinness’ The Man in the White Suit) and portraits.

Thompson’s stylised poster of Tony was used in a series of Senior Service recruiting campaigns under several slogans: ‘Make the Royal Navy your career’, ‘A man’s life in the Royal Navy’ and (perhaps apocryphally) ‘Join the Navy and feel a man’.

A version of the poster featured on the cover of Plymouth Navy Days’ brochure 1959 and, most recently, appears on the cover of Kevin Brown’s study of RN fitness and morale in WW2, Fittest of the Fleet.

That alone would be enough for most matelots to spin a good dit, but Tony Davidson had a hatful.

He joined the RN as a junior seaman on TS Mercury in 1949. While serving at HMS Excellent in 1952 he was selected to be part of the gun carriage team pulling King George VI’s coffin at Windsor (his proudest moment, for which he was awarded the Royal Victorian Medal by a young Queen Elizabeth).

He served in Britain’s last battleship, HMS Vanguard, frigates Ulysses and Murray, and Ton-class minesweepers Stubbington and Yarnton. In command of the latter, he completed the first circumnavigation of Bahrain.

A keen cricketer and rugby player, he was once famously flown to Malta for a rugby match, as the only passenger. On taking to the field, he not only captained the team but scored the winning try.

After a spell with HMS Jaguar training gun crews and controlling her armaments, he ended his 22-year Royal Navy career as a commander and staff gunnery officer to the senior RN command in the Gulf.

Continues at - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... royal-navy

[Pelican]

Tributes paid to one of the Navy’s biggest and most well-known characters

The Royal Navy has lost one of its biggest characters, champions and tireless workers with the sudden death of Commander Robert ‘Bob’ Hawkins.

In a career spanning six decades Bob, who died suddenly at the weekend, served in a slew of ships, held posts around the world, and experienced the technical and social changes which transformed the Navy from the one he joined at the age of 17 in 1978 to the one he continued to serve devotedly today.

Small ships or large – from P2000s and Hunt-class minehunters, destroyers and frigates, through to helping to bring carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth into service as her First Lieutenant – Bob tackled every posting and assignment with passion, commitment and forthright opinions.

see - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... f6xlsEpNeI

[Pelican]

Tributes paid to one of the Navy’s biggest and most well-known characters

The Royal Navy has lost one of its biggest characters, champions and tireless workers with the sudden death of Commander Robert ‘Bob’ Hawkins.

In a career spanning six decades Bob, who died suddenly at the weekend, served in a slew of ships, held posts around the world, and experienced the technical and social changes which transformed the Navy from the one he joined at the age of 17 in 1978 to the one he continued to serve devotedly today.

Small ships or large – from P2000s and Hunt-class minehunters, destroyers and frigates, through to helping to bring carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth into service as her First Lieutenant – Bob tackled every posting and assignment with passion, commitment and forthright opinions.

see - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... f6xlsEpNeI

Please see - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... characters

And:

Royal Navy in Scotland

The funeral of Commander Bob Hawkins MBE will be held next Friday, 27 October at Helensburgh Parish Church, at 12:30.

The funeral will also be live streamed via the church’s website - http://helensburghcos.org