Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Basil Charles Godfrey Place, (19 July 1921 – 27 December 1994), known as Godfrey Place, was an officer 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 ...

and a recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

forces.

Naval career

Place was 22 years old, and a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 22 September 1943 at Kåfjord, North Norway, Lieutenant Place, commanding Midget Submarine ''X7'', and another lieutenant ( Donald Cameron) commanding Midget Submarine X.6, carried out a most daring and successful attack on the German Battleship ''

Tirpitz Tirpitz may refer to: People * Alfred von Tirpitz (1849–1930), German admiral ** Tirpitz Plan, a plan for Germany to achieve world power status through naval power Ships * German battleship ''Tirpitz'', a World War II-era Bismarck-class ...

''. The two submarines had to travel at least 1,000 miles from base, negotiate a mine-field, dodge nets, gun defenses and enemy listening posts. Having eluded all these hazards they finally placed the charges underneath the ship where they went off an hour later, doing so much damage that ''Tirpitz'' was out of action for months. Place and other five officers captured at Kåfjord were transferred to Marlag-O, the German prison camp for British naval officers at Westertimke. The full citation was published in a supplement to the ''

London Gazette London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...

'' of 18 February 1944 (dated 22 February 1944) and read: VCBasilCharlesGodfreyPlaceMedals

Place was awarded the Polish Cross of Valour for his service as liaison officer in the Polish submarine ORP ''Sokół'' and the Distinguished Service Cross for his role in the sinking of the Italian submarine ''Guglielmotti'' by off Sicily in March 1942. In 1950, Place took the unusual step for a submariner of transferring to the

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, RN fighting arms. it is a primarily helicopter force, though also operating the Lockhee ...

, training as a pilot and gaining his "wings" in 1952. Later that year he saw action in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, flying the Sea Fury in 801 Squadron from the deck of the carrier . He later achieved the rank of

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

, and retired from the navy in June 1970.

The medal

Place's Victoria Cross is displayed at the

Imperial War Museum The Imperial War Museum (IWM), currently branded "Imperial War Museums", is a British national museum. It is headquartered in London, with five branches in England. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, it was intended to record the civ ...

in London.

Notes

External links

Location of grave and VC medal
''(Somerset)'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Place, Basil Charles Godfrey 1921 births 1994 deaths Burials in Somerset Military personnel from Worcestershire British World War II prisoners of war British World War II recipients of the Victoria Cross Commanders of the Order of Aviz Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Companions of the Order of the Bath Fleet Air Arm aviators People from Malvern Hills District Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Navy rear admirals Royal Navy officers of World War II Royal Navy personnel of the Korean War Royal Navy recipients of the Victoria Cross Royal Navy submarine commanders World War II prisoners of war held by Germany