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 vic ...

Sir Edward Gerard "Ged" Napier Mansfield (13 July 1921 – 27 June 2006) was Deputy Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic. After leaving 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 ...

became a fund-raiser for the Queen's Silver Jubilee Trust.

Early life

Edward Gerard Napier Mansfield was the son of Vice-Admiral Sir Jack Mansfield, KCB, DSO,

DSC DSC or Dsc may refer to: Education * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dyal Sin ...

, and a descendant of the 19th-century Admiral Sir Charles "Black" Napier.

Education

He was educated at

Durnford School Durnford School was an English preparatory school for boys which opened in 1894 on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset. The school occupied Durnford House, in the High Street of the village of Langton Matravers near Swanage, and was notoriously spar ...

an independent school near

Swanage Swanage () is a coastal town and civil parish in the south east of Dorset, England. It is at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck and one of its two towns, approximately south of Poole and east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester. In the Unit ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, before going to Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 1935.Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref>

War service in the Royal Navy

In May 1939

Midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

Mansfield joined the

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 ...

and then the heavy cruiser at

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

. At the start of the war, ''Sussex'' joined

Force H Force H was a British naval formation during the Second World War. It was formed in late-June 1940, to replace French naval power in the western Mediterranean removed by the French armistice with Nazi Germany. The force occupied an odd place ...

hunting for the German pocket battleship ''Admiral Graf Spee'' in the

South Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

. He then escorted the first troop convoy from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

across the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

, and took part in the campaign against Italian

Somaliland Somaliland, officially the Republic of Somaliland, is an List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country in the Horn of Africa. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden and bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, E ...

. He spent a short period in the

battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of att ...

followed by professional courses at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

during the Blitz - "not conducive to diligent study," he recalled. Promoted to sub-lieutenant, he first served in the J-class destroyer in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

and

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

. On 26 March 1942 he was in when she was hit by two torpedoes from the submarine ''U-652'', catching fire and sinking quickly. Three officers and 190 ratings were lost, and Mansfield, though wounded in the head, was one of 53 men rescued. He telegraphed his mother: "March passed, with major wetting." He joined combined operations, and was mentioned in dispatches for his work as a beachmaster during the landings in North Africa and

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. He then became first lieutenant of a submarine, but this proved to be a dead-end in his career as he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He returned to good health and rose rapidly in his career. He became commanding officer of the frigate in 1956 and went on to become commanding officer of the frigate HMS ''Yarmouth'' as well as captain of the 20th Frigate Squadron in 1963. He was appointed Commodore, Amphibious Forces, Far East Fleet from July 1967 to November 1968. He was next appointed Flag Officer Sea Training from March 1971 to October 1972, during which he was promoted to

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 ...

on 1 August 1972. Appointed Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic, based at

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

in 1973. He retired in 1975.

Personal life

He married, in 1943, Joan Worship Byron, twin daughter of Commander John Byron (1891–1944),

RNVR The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two Volunteer Reserves (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve (United Kingdom), ...

, DSC and Bar, and Frances (née Worship). Joan survived him with their two daughters, one of whom is Didy Grahame, until recently Secretary of the

Victoria Cross and George Cross Association The Victoria Cross and George Cross Association is made up of holders of the Victoria Cross (VC), Britain's highest military award for bravery in the presence of the enemy, and the George Cross (GC), the equivalent award for civilians and also ...

. Lady Mansfield died in 2020.Mansfield
/ref>

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mansfield, Gerard 1921 births 2006 deaths Royal Navy vice admirals Royal Navy officers of World War II Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order People educated at Durnford School