Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

Sir Harold Martin Burrough, (4 July 1889 – 22 October 1977) was a senior

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 ...

officer and Assistant Chief of Naval Staff to the

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Early career

Born the tenth son of Rev. Charles Burrough and his wife Georgina Long, Burrough began his career as a naval cadet in 1903 after being educated at St Edward's School, Oxford. He first saw action during

World War I 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 ...

as a gunnery officer aboard HMS ''Southampton'',Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> later taking part in the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland () was a naval battle between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, under Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer, durin ...

in 1916. In 1930 he was given command of HMS ''London''. He was made Commander of the 5th Destroyer Flotilla in 1935 and of HMS ''Excellent'' in 1937. He was made Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff in 1939.

World War II

In September 1940 he was appointed Rear-Admiral Commanding 10th Cruiser Squadron. During the Second World War he was awarded the DSO after Operation Archery a raid on the Norwegian islands of Vågsøy and

Måløy Måløy () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in the List of municipalities of Norway, municipality of Kinn in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the southeastern side of the Vågsøy (island), island of Vågsøy, about northea ...

on 27 December 1941 in which nine enemy ships were sunk by the Navy and

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

and the garrisons were wiped out by the raiding force. Burrough would serve on the Naval Staff for two years until 1942. In July of that year he was given command of the close escort force for

Operation Pedestal Operation Pedestal (, Battle of mid-August), known in Malta as (), was a British operation to carry supplies to the island of Malta in August 1942, during the Second World War. British ships, submarines and aircraft from Malta attacked Axis p ...

, and subsequently placed in command of Allied naval forces in the assault on

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

during

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa whil ...

, as well as directing the

Northwest Africa The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

landings. After becoming Flag Officer Commanding Gibraltar and Mediterranean Approaches in September 1943, Burrough succeeded Admiral Sir

Bertram Ramsay Admiral Sir Bertram Home Ramsay, KCB, KBE, MVO (20 January 1883 – 2 January 1945) was a Royal Navy officer. He commanded the destroyer during the First World War. In the Second World War, he was responsible for the Dunkirk evacuation in 1 ...

as Allied Naval Commander-in-Chief, Expeditionary Force (ANXF), following Ramsay's death after an aircraft accident in January 1945. Planning the Allied naval strategy and operations, working closely with U.S. General

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

during the final years of the war, Burrough was one of the signatories to the German Surrender Documents on 7 May 1945 at

Rheims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He remained as naval commander occupying post-war Germany, where among his duties he authorised the formation of the German Mine Sweeping Administration. He then became

Commander-in-Chief, The Nore The Commander-in-Chief, The Nore, was an operational commander of the Royal Navy. His subordinate units, establishments, and staff were sometimes informally known as the Nore Station or Nore Command. Nore, The Nore is a sandbank at the mouth of t ...

in 1946. He retired in 1949, being created Knight Grand Cross of the order of the Bath (GCB) that year. He died on 22 October 1977 from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

at the Moorhouse Nursing Home, Hindhead,

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

Family

Burrough married in 1914, Nellie Wills, daughter of C.W Outhit of Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, and had two sons and three daughters. His wife died in 1972.

References

External links

King's College London: Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives - Survey of the Papers of Senior UK Defence Personnel, 1900-1975

German Surrender Documents of World War II
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Burrough, Harold 1889 births 1977 deaths Royal Navy admirals Military personnel from Herefordshire Royal Navy admirals of World War II Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Deaths from pneumonia in England Royal Navy officers of World War I Lords of the Admiralty Admiralty personnel of World War II

Early career

World War II

Family

References

Further reading

External links