Admiral Of The Fleet Sir Algernon Willis

[qprdave]

Admiral Of The Fleet Sir Algernon Willis

Admiral of the Fleet Sir. Algernon Willis, GCB, KBE, DSO, DL, died on April 12 1976 at the age of 86. He was particularly associated with the higher command of the war in the Mediterranean. He was Chief of Staff to Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham during the first two years, .and after service on other stations returned to command Force H in time for the invasion of Sicily in 1943, where he was mentioned in. dispatches " for gallant and distinguished services and untiring devotion to duty ". It was thus entirely fitting that in 1946, after two years at the Admiralty, he should return to the Mediterranean as Commander-in-Chief. During the First World War. he served as a torpedo officer at Jutland and afterwards in the Baltic in 1919. Algernon Osborne Willis, the son of Mr Herbert Bourdillon Willis, of Hampstead, was born on May 17, 1889. He entered the Britannia in January, 1904, and from September, 1905, was a midshipman in the Hindustan and Glory in the Channel and Mediterranean Fleets. He became a sub-lieutenant in November, 1908,. And, by gaining firsts in all subjects in the examinations for Lieutenant his promotion to that rank in 1910 was antedated to November, 1909. After a commission in the cruiser Good Hope in the Mediterranean he joined the Vernon in August, 1912, to specialize in torpedoes, and on qualifying was selected for the advanced course at Greenwich.

When the Fleet mobilized at the end of July, 1914, he was appointed to the battleship Magnificent as torpedo lieutenant, and was in her for six and a half months, when he was re- called for special duties in the Vernon. From April, 1915, he was torpedo lieutenant of the cruiser Donegal for six months, and then joined the Defiance torpedo school ship at Devonport. On April 5, 1916, he was appointed to the Fearless, leader of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla, and two months later took part in the Battle of Jutland, when the flotilla was attached to the Battle Cruiser Fleet under Admiral Beatty. On June 22, 1916, he again joined the Vernon as a staff officer, and was there until September, 1918. His next appointment was as flotilla torpedo officer in the Saumarez and (from March, 1919) in the Wallace. In March 1920, he was awarded the DSO for preserving the efficiency of the torpedo and depth charge armament of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla during its operations in the Baltic in 1919. From January to December, 1920, he was torpedo officer 'of the Renown, and took part. in the tour of the Prince of Wales to Australia and New Zealand. Next he again joined the staff of the Vernon, and was promoted to Commander in June, 1922.- Three months later he was appointed for the staff course. He was. squadron torpedo officer in the Coventry, flagship of the destroyer flotillas, from 1923 to 1925, was on the staff of the senior officers' tactical course at Portsmouth from 1925 to 1927., and commanded the Warwick in the 5th Destroyer Flotilla from 1927 to 1929, when he was promoted to Captain From 1930 to 1932 he was on the staff of the RN War College at Greenwich, and during. the next two years was Flag-Captain Of the Kent in China. From May,. 1934, to August, 1935, he was Flag- Captain of the Nelson,. Home Fleet flagship, and from September, 1935, to April, 1938, commanded the Vernon torpedo school.

He was then appointed to command the Barham, as Flag-Captain and Chief Staff Officer in the 1st Battle Squadron, Mediterranean, where in February, 1939, he became Commodore and Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Sir Dudley Pound. He continued in this post when Admiral Sir Andrew' Cunningham became Commander-in- Chief in the following June, and until the summer of 1941. In January, 1940, he was promoted to Rear-Admiral7 and in the same year was awarded the CB. In the autumn of 1941, as acting Vice-Admiral, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief on the Africa .Station, and after Japan entered the war was made-Second-in-Command of 'the Eastern Fleet under Admiral Sir James Somerville. In April, 1943, he was confirmed 'in the rank' of Vice-Admiral, and was recalled from the Eastern-Fleet to command Force H: This was the title given to, the fleet; which operated in the Western Basin of the Mediterranean and which prevented the Italian Fleet interfering with the operations in North Africa, for. the landings in Sicily, and. at Salerno in July and September 1943, respectively, in both of which Vice-Admiral Willis commanded Forte H. He was afterwards Commander-in-Chief, Levant, from October 1943, until the lapse of this as a separate command at the end of that year. In March, 1944, he joined the Admiralty Board as Second Sea Lord 'and Chief .of Naval Personnel, and during his two years in this post was promoted to Admiral in October, 1945. He had been promoted to KCB in 1943, and in December, 1945, was also created a KBE "for, distinguished service during the war in, Europe "In April, 1946. he was appointed Commander-in- Chief in the Mediterranean, and held this command' during an. eventful two years, when numerous calls were made "on the Fleet' owing to, unrest in the Balkan countries and in Palestine. 'In the 1947 birthday honours he was promoted to GCB. In 1948 he became Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth Command, his final appointment before his retirement in 1950. He. was made an Admiral of the Fleet in 1949. After his retirement he became a Deputy Lieutenant for Hampshire in 1951. He married, in 1916, Olive Christine, daughter of the late Mr Henry E. Millar, of Hampstead, and sister of Mrs Clement Attlee, later Countess Attlee, wife of the late Labour Prime Minister. They had two daughters. Lady Willis was made a CBE in 1951

[dennis a feary]

GRPDAVE, great work re your posting of Obits for service personnel - keep it up. Here is an award for Adm. Willis ;

WILLIS Algernon V N/E Lt.Cdr. RN 88X937 Wallace
Captain Campbell 08.03.20 N/E Post War - Baltic 1919 DSO
Has continued to be of the greatest assistance to me, and has done exceedingly good work in preserving the efficiency of the torpedo and depth charge armaments of the flotilla, during the extremely cold weather.

Sadsac