Archibald George Forman
CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(1910-1967) was a British
naval officer
An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service.
Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent ...
who became the first Chief of Naval Staff of the
Ghana Navy
The Ghana Navy (GN) is the naval warfare organizational military branch of the Ghana Armed Forces, Ghanaian Armed Forces (GAF). The Ghanaian Navy, along with the Ghana Army, Ghanaian Army (GA) and Ghana Air Force, Ghanaian Air Force (GHF), make up ...
.
Ghana Navy service
Forman was born in
Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross.
Its economy has dive ...
on 20 June 1910. At age 17, he was an acting sub-lieutenant in the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
. In 1931, he became a sub-lieutenant and promoted as a lieutenant two years after (1933). In 1941, he became Lieutenant Commander and commanded
HMS Airdale and
HMS Lookout (G32). He was mentioned in dispatches in 1942, and became a Commander at the end of 1943, where he commanded
HMS Garth (L20). In 1950, he was made Commodore. Retiring from active Navy service in July 1959, he was seconded to the newly created Ghana Navy.
Kwame Nkrumah
Francis Kwame Nkrumah (, 21 September 1909 – 27 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He served as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast from 1952 until 1957, when it gained ...
, then the
Ghana
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
, granted him a presidential commission as a Ghana naval officer with the rank of
Commodore
Commodore may refer to:
Ranks
* Commodore (rank), a naval rank
** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom
** Commodore (India), in India
** Commodore (United States)
** Commodore (Canada)
** Commodore (Finland)
** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...
and appointed him Chief of Naval Staff.
This was after the navy had been established in 1959.
After Nkrumah assumed the title of Supreme Commander in September, he replaced Commodore Forman with Lieutenant-Colonel Daniel Hansen. As Captain A. G. Forman he received a CBE in 1962.
[''Supplement to the London Gazette'', 2 June 1962]
p.4311
/ref>
References
Royal Navy officers
1910 births
1967 deaths
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Chiefs of Naval Staff (Ghana)
Royal Navy commodores
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