Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

David Willoughby Leach, (17 July 1928 –19 January 2020) was a senior officer of the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

, who served as Chief of the Naval Staff from 1982 to 1985.

Early life

Leach was born in

Subiaco, Western Australia Subiaco (known colloquially as Subi) is an inner-Western suburbs (Perth), western suburb of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It is approximately west of Perth's central business district, in the City of Subiaco local government area. H ...

, on 17 July 1928 to John Digby Leach, a

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

veteran and later Commissioner of Main Roads in Western Australia, and his wife Grace Lilian. Initially educated at

Perth Modern School Perth Modern School (colloquially known as Perth Mod) is a public co-educational academically selective high school, located in Subiaco, an inner city suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Perth Modern is Western Australia's only fully academica ...

, Leach entered the

Royal Australian Naval College HMAS Creswell is a training facility of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) that includes the Royal Australian Naval College (RANC) as well as the School of Survivability and Ship's Safety, Beecroft Weapons Range, and an administrative support depa ...

in January 1942 aged thirteen.

Naval career

Leach commanded the guided missile

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

s and HMAS ''Perth'' during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

Hobart Association
/ref> for which he was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire 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 ...

in 1969. In 1970 he managed naval liaison for the Royal Visit to Australia for which he was appointed a

Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the ...

. He was appointed Flag Officer Commanding HM Australian Fleet in 1979 and Chief of the Naval Staff in 1982. He was made a

Companion of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in June 1984, and retired in 1985. After retiring from the Navy, Leach joined the Council of the

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial (AWM) is a national war memorial, war museum, museum and archive dedicated to all Australians who died as a result of war, including peacekeeping duties. The AWM is located in Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, C ...

and became a member of the

Administrative Appeals Tribunal The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was an Australian tribunal that conducted independent merits review of administrative decisions made under Commonwealth laws of the Australian Government. The AAT reviewed decisions made by Australian G ...

. He was also elected as an alderman in the

Municipality of Woollahra Woollahra Municipal Council (or Woollahra Council) is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woollahra is bounded by Port J ...

, and served as mayor during 1995. Leach died in Sydney on 19 January 2020.

References

1928 births 2020 deaths Australian military personnel of the Vietnam War Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of Australia Graduates of the Royal Australian Naval College Lieutenants of the Royal Victorian Order People educated at Perth Modern School Military personnel from Perth, Western Australia Royal Australian Navy admirals Mayors of Woollahra Recipients of the Pingat Jasa Gemilang (Tentera) {{Australia-mil-bio-stub