Lieutenant Commander John Andrew Pearson, RNR, DSC and bar was an officer in the Royal Navy during the Second World War.
Pearson ("Iain") was an officer in the Royal Naval Reserve. His wartime service began with coastal minesweeping forces at HMS Lynx in Dover, then as captain of the Bangor-class minesweeper HMS Rye, and finally as captain of the Algerine-class minesweeper HMS Welfare. He ended the war with the rank of Lieutenant-Commander.
Pearson was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) in the New Year Honours on 1 January 1940 for minesweeping service at HMS Lynx.
He was awarded a Bar to his DSC on 10 November 1942 for his service during Operation Pedestal in command of HMS Rye, which included the rescue of the American oil tanker SS Ohio.
He was Mentioned in Dispatches (MID) in the King's Birthday Honours on 2 June 1943, and was mentioned a second time on 23 November 1943 for Rye's defence of convoys against air attack.
Person was mentioned in dispatches for a third time on 27 March 1945 for services during Operation Dragoon as commander of HMS Welfare, and for a fourth time on 14 August 1945 for services with Welfare during the relief of Greece.
The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve, created in 1859, and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), created in 1903. The Royal Naval Reserve has seen action in World War I, World War II, the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan.
HMS Jervis, was a J-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the late 1930s. She was named after Admiral John Jervis (1735–1823). She was laid down by R. and W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited, at Hebburn-on-Tyne on 26 August 1937. The ship was launched on 9 September 1938 and commissioned on 8 May 1939, four months before the start of the Second World War.
Admiral Sir Victor Alexander Charles Crutchley was a British naval officer.
The Halcyon class was a class of 21 oil-fired minesweepers built for the British Royal Navy between 1933 and 1939. They were given traditional small ship names used historically by the Royal Navy and served during the Second World War.
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Edward Beckwith Ashmore, was a senior Royal Navy officer. He saw active service in the Second World War and later commanded two frigates before achieving high command in the Navy. He served as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff in the mid-1970s and in that role he advised the incoming Labour government on a major defence review and on the implications of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. He went on to be acting Chief of the Defence Staff, serving briefly in a caretaker capacity following the death of his predecessor.
HMS Rye (J76) was a Bangor-class minesweeper built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War.
The 14th/17th Minesweeper Flotilla was a Royal Navy minesweeper flotilla based in Malta during the Second World War.
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Michael Patrick Pollock, was a senior officer in the Royal Navy who rose to become First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff in the early 1970s. In the Second World War, he was an officer on ships tasked with protecting convoys in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and was gunnery officer on the cruiser HMS Norfolk when she fought the German battleship Scharnhorst during the Battle of North Cape. He later commanded the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, and hosted Ian Smith on HMS Tiger. In retirement, he held the position of King of Arms of the Order of the Bath and Gloucester King of Arms, with responsibility for heraldry in Wales.
Lieutenant Commander Roger Percival Hill, DSO, DSC, was a commander in many famous destroyers of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Hill served in crucial theatres of the war, being present in the Arctic convoys, the Mediterranean Campaign and Malta Convoys, as well as playing a supporting role aboard HMS Jervis during the Normandy landings.
Vice-Admiral Sir Ian Lachlan Mackay McGeoch, KCB, DSO, DSC was a commissioned officer in the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. He commanded the submarine HMS Splendid during the Second World War, and was later Flag Officer Submarines (FOSM) and Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland (FOSNI).
Vice Admiral Sir Peter Phipps, was a senior officer of the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) from the 1940s to 1960s.
Commodore Colin Douglas Maud, DSO & Bar, DSC & Bar was a Royal Navy officer who during the Second World War commanded the destroyers Somali and Icarus and acted as beach master of Juno beach at the D-day landings. With a heavy black beard, he "possessed the outward appearance of a latter-day buccaneer and was endowed with exceptional boldness and tenacity to go with it". His blackthorn stick and bulldog Winston provided an image when portrayed by Kenneth More in the film The Longest Day. He was described as "one of the most popular officers in the British Navy".
Peter Gerald Charles Dickens was an English Royal Navy officer during World War II and a great-grandson of novelist Charles Dickens.
Vice Admiral Sir Peter William Gretton was an officer in the Royal Navy. He was active in the Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War, and was a successful convoy escort commander. He eventually rose to become Fifth Sea Lord and retired as a vice admiral before entering university life as a bursar and academic.
Lieutenant Commander Robert Peverell Hichens, was the most highly decorated officer of the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), being awarded two Distinguished Service Orders, three Distinguished Service Crosses and three Mentions in Despatches. He was also recommended for a Victoria Cross after being killed in action in April 1943.
Captain Leslie William Abel Bennington DSO & Bar, DSC & Two Bars was a British Royal Navy officer, who was highly decorated for his actions as a submarine commander during the Second World War.
Commander Norman Eyre Morley, was a British Naval Reserve officer who served in both World Wars, becoming the most decorated reserve officer in the Royal Navy, and the only person to have been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross four times.
Captain Michael Lindsay Coulton "Tubby" Crawford DSC & Bar was an officer in the Royal Navy and submariner.
Commodore Edward Dudley Norman was a distinguished World War II submarine commander, senior Royal Navy officer and senior Royal Malayan Navy officer. He was the first Chief of Navy for Federation of Malaya.
HMS Sunflower was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy. She served during the Second World War.