George was given command of a torpedo-boat in 1889 and proved himself a capable ship handler when going to the rescue of a consort that had broken down in heavy weather. His next command was the gunboat Thrush on the North America and West Indies station in 1890, followed by promotion to commander on 24 August 1891. On the death of the Duke of Clarence in January 1892 George became the Prince of Wales’s direct heir and was created Duke of York soon afterwards. He inherited not only his brother’s place in the succession but also his fiancée, Princess May (only daughter of the Duke of Teck, a minor German principality), whom he married in July 1893. York was promoted to captain on 2 January 1893 and commanded the cruiser Melampus off the Irish coast in the manoeuvres of 1893. His royal duties brought his time at sea to an end and his last command was of the cruiser Crescent in the manoeuvres of 1898. He was promoted to rear-admiral on 1 January 1901. After the accession of his father as Edward VII on 22 January 1901 he became Duke of Cornwall and York and was known by this title until 9 November 1901, when he was created Prince of Wales. He was promoted to vice-admiral on 26 June 1903 and to admiral on 1 March 1907. On 6 May 1910 he succeeded his father as King George V and became an admiral of the fleet.
During the First World War George V became a figure of national unity. He held numerous investitures and toured military establishments, hospitals and factories, including five visits to the Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow. In May 1917, bowing to ministerial pressure for all British subjects possessing German titles to disclaim them, he changed the name of his own family from Saxe-Coburg to Windsor. He declined to offer refuge to his friend and cousin, the Emperor Nicholas II of Russia [60], after the latter’s abdication in March 1917, on the grounds that the arrival in England of an unpopular autocrat with a German-born wife could place his own throne in jeopardy. In the post-war period George V emerged as the model of a modern constitutional monarch and was widely respected by his subjects as a symbol of stability in an uncertain world. He died at Sandringham, Norfolk, on 20 January 1936, and was buried at St George’s Chapel, Windsor. He had a family of one daughter and five sons, the eldest of whom succeeded him as Edward VIII [84].
GEORGE VI
ALBERT FREDERICK ARTHUR GEORGE, HM King of
Great Britain and Ireland, Emperor of India (1895–1952) [86]
Prince Albert of York was born on 14 December 1895 at York Cottage, Sandringham, the second of five sons of the then Duke and Duchess of York, later George V [64] and Queen Mary. He was a shy and nervous child, greatly in awe (like the rest of their children) of his royal parents, whose life-style inhibited any outward expression of affection. In early childhood, Prince Albert (“Bertie” to his family) developed a speech impediment, which he strove to overcome with great determination and eventual success. Like his father, he was originally intended for a naval career and followed his example by attending the Royal Naval College at Osborne in 1909 and Dartmouth in 1911. Albert joined the cruiser Cumberland as a cadet in January 1913 and was gazetted as a midshipman on 15 September 1913. He was appointed to the battleship Collingwood in October 1913 and served in the Mediterranean. Shortly after the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914 Albert was sent ashore with the first of the several gastric problems that affected his naval career. In November 1914 he was posted to the War Staff at the Admiralty. He rejoined Collingwood at Portsmouth as her senior midshipman in February 1915, and became an acting sub-lieutenant on 15 September 1915 but was then again sent ashore for medical treatment.
George V, who refused to allow the more robust Prince of Wales [84] to serve in combat, was far less concerned about the health of his second son and, despite medical advice, supported him in his wish to rejoin the fleet. Albert was therefore able to go back to Collingwood on 5 May 1916 and to serve in her at the battle of Jutland (31 May–1 June 1916). He was promoted to lieutenant on 15 June 1916, but at the end of August was once more sent ashore, suffering from a duodenal ulcer. After a period on the staff at Portsmouth, Albert joined the battleship Malaya in May 1917 and remained in this ship until August 1917, when a recurrence of gastric illness ended his time as a sea-going officer. On 1 January 1918, at his own suggestion, he was posted to the Royal Naval Air Station at Cranwell, Lincolnshire. He served there as the officer commanding No 4 Squadron, Boy Wing. When the Royal Air Force was formed on 1 April 1918 Albert, with the encouragement of the King, transferred to the new Service as a flight lieutenant.
In October 1919, Albert went up to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he spent the next three terms. He was created Duke of York and Earl of Inverness in June 1920. He then met and fell in love with Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, ninth of the ten children of the fourteenth Earl of Strathmore. York proposed to her the following year, but was refused, as Lady Elizabeth, brought up in a happy domestic life, had little desire to enter the restrictive circles of the Royal Family. York persevered in his suit and the couple married on 26 April 1923. Their marriage proved a happy one, with the Duke of York’s health improving as his Duchess gave him a calm and loving home, with two daughters born in 1926 and 1930 respectively. He undertook his share of public duties and rose steadily through the ranks of the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, to become a rear-admiral on 3 June 1932 and an air chief marshal on 21 January 1936.
The Abdication crisis of late 1936 was greeted by the Yorks with horror. Neither wished for the throne that Edward VIII chose to vacate in order to marry the woman he loved. Nevertheless, with a characteristic regard for duty, York accepted the crown and took the regnal name of King George VI, to emphasize both that the monarchy continued and that his model would be his late father. Following the precedents set by George V and Edward VIII, he became an admiral of the fleet, field marshal and marshal of the Royal Air Force on 11 December 1936, the date of his accession. He set himself to restore the prestige of the British Crown and succeeded in gaining the respect and sympathy of his subjects. When the Second World War began in September 1939 George VI assumed a natural role as the symbol of his country. His modest and self-disciplined manner made it easier for ordinary people to identify with their King than with the extrovert war-time Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, who was regarded by many working people as a war-monger and strike-breaker.
During the war, in addition to his normal duties of state, George VI made frequent visits to ships and units at home and abroad. He went to France before the German offensive in 1940, to North Africa after the Allied victories in 1943 and to Normandy ten days after the Allied landings in June 1944. In 1940, when invasion was expected, George VI refused the advice of his ministers to send the Queen and the princesses to safety in Canada. He installed a small-arms range in the grounds of Buckingham Palace where he practised with revolvers and sub-machine guns, for personal defence in case of a German assault. Accompanied by Queen Elizabeth, he made visits to the East End of London, Coventry and other cities devastated by German air raids. He continued to work from Buckingham Palace during both the Blitz of 1940–1941 and the attacks by V-weapons in 1944–1945 and was at the palace when it was hit by a bomb on 11 September 1940. To mark courageous acts by civilians or service personnel when not in the physical presence of the enemy, he instituted two new decorations, the George Cross and the George Medal.
Victory in Europe on 8 May 1945 was followed by a general election that gave the Labour party a landslide victory and a mandate to introduce far-reaching domestic reforms. The King, reigning as a constitutional monarch, retained his popularity, while his new ministers introduced an ambitious programme laying the foundations of a Welfare State. On 22 June 1947, when British rule in South Asia ended, George VI disclaimed his title as Emperor of India. He continued with his public duties, but his health, never robust, began to decline. He was found to be suffering from cancer and, in September 1951, underwent an operation for the removal of his left lung. His medical advisers doubted his ability to survive further surgery. Not long after saying farewell to his heiress, Princess Elizabeth, on her departure for a visit to K
enya, George VI died in his sleep at Sandringham, on 6 February 1952. He was buried at St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
GILLFORD
VISCOUNT, see MEADE, RICHARD JAMES, 4th Earl of
Clanwilliam [50]
GORDON
Sir JAMES ALEXANDER, GCB (1782–1869) [30]
James Gordon was born on 6 October 1782, the eldest son of a Highland gentleman of modest means. His aunt, married to a Scottish nobleman, Lord Glenbervie, was a friend of Captain James Hawkins Whitshed [17]. With the French Revolutionary War having begun nine months earlier, Whitshed was given command of the 3rd-rate Arrogant and took Gordon on board as a captain’s servant on 25 November 1793. Gordon served in Arrogant in the Channel fleet during 1794, employed in escorting convoys or on blockade duty of Brest. After a short time in harbour, successively in the 3rd-rates Invincible, Ramillies and Defence, he joined the 6th-rate Eurydice, under Whitshed’s friend Captain Francis Cole. In 1795 he followed Cole to the 5th-rate Revolutionnaire, newly captured from the French, and served in the Channel under Sir Alexander Hood (Lord Bridport). They were present at “Bridport’s Action” when three French ships of the line were captured off the Ile de Groix, Lorient (23 June 1795). In 1796 Cole explained to Gordon that, although he had spent three years at sea, he could not be considered for appointment as a midshipman as he was still semi-literate.
Whitshed, at this time commanding the 2nd-rate Namur, agreed to take him back as a first class volunteer. Gordon took part in the battle of the Glorious First of June (1 June 1794) and subsequently transferred to the 2nd-rate Goliath, commanded by another of Whitshed’s friends, Captain Thomas Foley. He served in this ship at the battle of St Vincent (14 February 1797) and received sufficient education from the ship’s schoolmaster to be appointed a midshipman and mate. Gordon was in Goliath at the battle of the Nile (1 August 1798) and took part in the blockade of French-occupied Malta until returning home late in 1798.
Gordon was appointed second lieutenant of the 6th-rate Bourdelois on 27 January 1800 and served in the West Indies, where he was mentioned in despatches for his part in the capture of the French brig Curieuse (29 January 1801). In the autumn of 1801, while in command of a small vessel, taken as a prize by Bourdelois, he was captured by a French privateer. He spent four months on parole in the French colony of St Domingue (Haiti), western Hispaniola, before being exchanged and returning to his ship just as news arrived that peace had been proclaimed by the Treaty of Amiens (27 March 1802). Bourdelois was paid off as part of the rapid postwar reduction of the Navy, but Gordon was able to find an appointment as lieutenant in the brig Racoon in which he returned to the West Indies late in 1802. After the renewal of hostilities in May 1803, Racoon was involved in numerous engagements against French vessels, including the capture of the corvette Lodi off Leogane, Haiti, on 11 July 1803, for which Gordon was mentioned in despatches a second time. He was given command of Racoon on 23 October 1803, with confirmation of the rank of commander on 2 March 1804. Gordon was deployed off the coast of Haiti, where his prizes included three privateers, a troop transport and several schooners.
On 16 May 1805 Gordon was promoted to captain, with command of the captured Spanish frigate Diligentia (taken into the Navy as a 6th-rate and renamed Ligaera) in which he returned home, but, suffering from the effects of yellow fever, he was forced to give up his command on medical grounds. While convalescent, he stayed with his father (at that time serving as a military paymaster) and his younger sisters at Marlborough. There he met Lydia Ward, the nineteen-year-old daughter of a local solicitor. Each was attracted to the other, but her father’s view was that no engagement should be entered into at that time, as Gordon was wholly dependent on his naval pay and could be expected to return to active service. In the event, Gordon remained on half-pay until 18 June 1807, when he was given command of the 6th-rate Mercury. Following a period on trade protection duties in the North Atlantic and the Channel, he joined the squadron blockading Cadiz after the battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805). He was again mentioned in despatches for his part in intercepting a Spanish convoy off Rota (4 April 1808).
Between June 1808 and June 1812 Gordon commanded the 5th-rate Active, in which he served in the Mediterranean Fleet, mostly in the Adriatic, where he was frequently engaged in coastal and boat actions. He took or destroyed a large number of minor vessels and was again mentioned in despatches for his part in a raid on Ortano (Ortona), off the east coast of French-occupied Naples (12 February 1811). Gordon was at the battle of Lissa (Vis) on 13 March 1811, off the French-occupied principality of Dalmatia (Croatia), in an action between two frigate squadrons for which he was awarded a gold medal. In another frigate action in the same area, off Pelagosa (Palagruza), he sank the French Pomone, but was badly wounded by cannon-shot, losing his left leg at the knee (29 November 1811). After treatment at Malta, he returned home with Active in June 1812. He had by this time gained sufficient funds from prize-money, together with a pension for the loss of his leg, to make him an acceptable suitor for the hand of Miss Ward. She, by this time aged twenty-six, had remained faithful to him and had given a lock of her hair to his sisters to send him. They were married at Marlborough on 28 August 1812 and later had eleven children, of whom seven daughters and a son survived to adulthood.
On 14 September 1812 Gordon was appointed to the 5th-rate Seahorse. After a brief deployment to the West Indies, he returned to Portsmouth and, during August 1813, patrolled the Western Atlantic in a fruitless search for American privateers in the War of 1812. He then joined the blockade of Cherbourg and, on 13 November 1813, sank the French privateer Subtile. Gordon was a humane commanding officer, who disliked having to order floggings as part of his duty, and on one occasion wrote to his wife that he hoped that some of his men who had deserted would not be found, so that he would not have to punish them. After the fall of Napoleon in April 1814 Seahorse was among the reinforcements sent to the British forces in North America. In August 1814 Gordon led a diversionary raid up the Potomac, where he captured Alexandria, Virginia, and seized twenty-one vessels. This feat, carried out in shallow river-waters protected by shore defences, brought him another mention in despatches. He was present at the bombardment of Fort McHenry, in the unsuccessful British attack on Baltimore, Maryland (commemorated in the United States national anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner”). His last active service was in providing logistic support for the British descent on New Orleans in December 1814 and in supplying arms to the Creek Indians of Appalachicola, West Florida, notionally subjects of Spain, but prepared to be allies of the British. In 1815 he was awarded the KCB and received the last of his nine mentions in despatches.
After the end of the Napoleonic wars Sir James Gordon was appointed to the 5th-rate Madagascar, in which he served on the Home station from November 1815 to October 1816. He then moved to the 6th-rate Maeander and in December 1816, by good seamanship, saved her from being wrecked in a storm off Orford Ness. After a period ashore, he commanded his old ship Active successively in the North Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Irish Sea from 1819 to 1822. In 1828 he was appointed Superintendent of the Naval Hospital, Plymouth. From July 1832 to 10 January 1837, when he was promoted to rear-admiral of the Blue, Gordon was Superintendent of Chatham Dockyard. In July 1840 he became Lieutenant-Governor of the Royal Naval Hospital, Greenwich, with promotion to rear-admiral of the White on 23 November 1841, rear-admiral of the Red on 9 November 1847, vice-admiral of the Blue on 8 January 1848, and vice-admiral of the Red on 26 October 1853. During 1853 he was appointed Governor of the Royal Naval Hospital. Gordon, a well-built man over six feet tall, coped well with his false leg for many years, frequently walking from Greenwich to London, but a bad fall in 1848 reduced his mobility. He was promoted to admiral of the Blue on 21 January 1854 and admiral of the fleet on the retired list on 30 January 1868. He died at the Royal Naval Hospital on 8 January 1869 and was buried in the Hospital grounds.
GOUGH-CALTHORPE
The Honourable Sir SOMERSET A
RTHUR, GCB, GCMG,
CVO (1864–1937) [76]
Somerset Gough Calthorpe, born in London on 23 December 1865, was the younger son of the seventh Baron Calthorpe and his wife Eliza, who was herself the only child of one naval captain, the widow of another and the granddaughter of an admiral. The young Calthorpe spent part of his boyhood in France, where he acquired a knowledge of French language and culture that proved useful later in his career. After joining the Navy in 1878 as a cadet in the training ship Britannia, he became a midshipman on 19 March 1880 and served from 1880 to 1883 in the armoured ship Northampton, flagship of the North America and West Indies station. He was promoted to acting sub-lieutenant on 19 March 1884, at the beginning of his promotion courses, and was appointed to the corvette Rover in the Training Squadron in September 1885. He became a lieutenant on 19 March 1886 and joined the armoured turret ship Colossus in June 1886. Between 1887 and 1889 Calthorpe was at the torpedo school Vernon where, after qualifying as a torpedo specialist, he joined the instructional staff in 1890. From August 1891 to August 1893 he was based at Hong Kong for torpedo duties and from January to October 1894 he was again in Vernon. He then became torpedo lieutenant of the cruiser St George on the Cape of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa station, where he served from October 1894 to the end of 1895.
British Admirals of the Fleet Page 17